Jizu Mountain
Another name of Jizu Mountain
is Nine Strata Cliffs. It is situated in Liandong
District of Binchuan County, 20km. west of the
county seat and 90km. from Dali. With three mountain
ranges in front and one branch at the back, it
looks like a cock's foot, hence its name.
The mountain ranges stretch
to several hundred li and Tianzhu Peak is the
highest, measuring 3,240 metres in elevation.
Ascending the top of the mountain, you can enjoy
the splendid view of sunrise and have a glance
at the plain of the county, Cangshan Mountain,
Erhai Lake and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in
the east, south, west and north respectively.
The mountain is covered with dense forests and
bamboo groves. During the period of Shu Kingdom
of the Three Kingdoms, small nunneries were first
constructed and later expanded in the Tang Dynasty,
and the most flourishing period followed in the
Ming and Qing Dynasties. There were more than
one hundred monasteries of different sizes and
the noted ones were Xitang Temple, Shizhong Temple
and Huayan Temple constructed in the Ming Dynasty
and Jinding Temple (Golden Top) which had been
moved from Kunming to the mountain. Later, many
temples fell into ruins, and now, only Zhushengsi
Temple, the gate tower of Jinding Temple and Lengyan
Pagoda are kept in the original shape. Jizushan
Mountain is one of the most famous Buddhist mountains
in China.
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