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Hengshan is located in Hengyang County, the middle part of Hunan Province. It has 72 lofty peaks and winds for 400 km through seven counties and cities. The summit, Zhurong Peak, is 1,290 m. above sea level. Hengshan is famous for its scenery and places of historic interest, such as the Seven Ancestors Daochang (place where Taoist rites are performed), and the Zhuling Holy Spot. Many celebrities and scholars, such as Li Bai, Du Fu and Zhao Qilin, composed poems, wrote books and gave lectures on the mountain, leaving a great many legends and stone inscriptions.
The biggest temple in the mountain is the Nanyue Temple, covering an area of 100,000 square meters. The Nanyue Temple has nine courtyards and the main hall is 22 meters high, supported by 72 stone pillars, which symbolize the 72 peaks of the mountain. Glazed in red and yellow, the temple, covering 98,500 sq. meters, is linked with many other buildings and represents a grand palace complex.
Besides marvelous temples, the mountain also boasts 9 ponds, 9 wells, 9 pools, 10 caves, 15 rocks, 25 streams and 38 springs, in harmony with green forests and fragrant flowers and grass. Grand, graceful, sequestered and culturally abundant, Hengshan leads the five sacred mountains by its gracefulness.
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