Ten Thousand Acres of Rhododendrons in Qingdao Bloom, Tickets at 40 Yuan Allow You to Admire the Most Beautiful Spring Colors
After a winter, everything is flourishing, and Qingdao City has also entered a colorful season. Spring is the time to appreciate flowers. In recent days, the weather has been sunny and clear, and the temperature has been constantly rising. Many flowers around Qingdao's mountains have entered the blooming period. I just saw the cherry blossoms, and now it's time to appreciate the rhododendrons.
Everyone in Qingdao knows that there's a good place to see rhododendrons, which is Mount Diaojishan on the Qingdao West Coast. The rhododendrons on Mount Diaojishan have been in bloom since the end of March, which is a little earlier than in previous years. Mount Diaojishan is about 50 kilometers from Qingdao's downtown area and is one of the famous mountains on the Qingdao West Coast, often ranked alongside Laoshan Mountain. Not only is it scenic and beautiful, but its natural landscape is also colorful. Mount Diaojishan is now open to tourists, with a ticket price of 40 yuan. Tourists need to book tickets online in advance and register and measure their body temperature upon entry.
Mount Diaojishan is actually divided into two parts: Shimen Temple and Zhushan Xugu Scenic Area. These two scenic areas are interconnected, and tourists with a ticket can visit both. If you want to appreciate the rhododendrons, you should go to Zhushan Xugu, about two thousand meters from the main entrance to reach Yunhuacheng, which is the densest area of rhododendrons.
I came to Mount Diaojishan early, and not many tourists, the scenic area is empty, only the rhododendrons are blooming unrestrained. Mount Diaojishan has over ten thousand acres of rhododendrons. Along the hillside are densely packed rhododendrons. There's a stone staircase leading up the mountain, which is a good place for taking pictures. These rhododendrons haven't yet sprouted their leaves, but the vibrant flowers have already bloomed on the branches, which is the most beautiful spring scenery in Qingdao. As the rhododendrons on Mount Diaojishan flourish, Qingdao will enter a colorful world, with cherry blossoms, rapeseed flowers, etc., blooming one after another.
Among the rhododendrons, there are also some vibrant and bright yellow honeysuckle flowers, which are particularly eye-catching. Zhushan Xugu Scenic Area is a valley on Mount Diaojishan, about five kilometers long. Often, there are streams flowing through the valley, which flow into a man-made lake at the bottom of the mountain. Although it's known as Laoshan Mountain, Mount Diaojishan is not very high, and its peak, Diaotie Peak, only reaches an altitude of 486 meters. It's a good place for scholars and monks to retreat and live in seclusion, leaving many cultural relics. There are also stone carvings on many rocks on the mountain, and Shimen Temple, a temple built during the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, has been in existence for over 800 years.
The rhododendrons on Mount Diaojishan have attracted many photographers. A relatively short mountain path is, in the eyes of photographers, an endless landscape. Every step taken is a painting. These rhododendrons grow along the hillside and cliff faces, with the flowers densely blooming like a sea of clouds. Mount Diaojishan has three varieties of rhododendrons, and the one currently open is called Blue Thorn, and in about a month, around May 5th, the Hongying Red will bloom, and there is also a kind called Kongtong Flower, which is also a rhododendron, and the flowering period will last until June.
When visiting Mount Diaojishan to see the rhododendrons, it takes about 2-3 hours, but the actual time spent appreciating the flowers is about half an hour, the rest of the time is climbing. However, Mount Diaojishan is not steep, and the terrain is flat, and the scenery is very charming, everywhere is green and flowers, and it doesn't feel tired. The essence of Zhushan Xugu Scenic Area is this Yunhuacheng, and the winding path creates a colorful landscape.
Along Yunhuacheng to the top of the mountain, the view is open, and the rhododendrons below can be seen in their entirety, which feels even more magnificent, this is the most beautiful spring scenery in Qingdao, and the ticket price of 40 yuan is very worthwhile. After reaching the top, you can divide into two routes, one leads to the entrance of Zhushan Xugu Scenic Area, and the other leads to the Shimen Temple Scenic Area, where there are more humanistic and historical ancient sites.
As a well-known tourist resort on the Qingdao West Coast, Mount Diaojishan also has convenient public transportation, with bus stops at Shimen Temple and Zhushan Xugu. If you drive, it's even more convenient, with large parking lots at the entrances of both attractions. Mount Diaojishan is further away, and there is also the Lingyuanying Scenic Area, which has a richer historical site. During the reign of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang once came to Lingyuanying for inspection and left stone carvings and scriptures on the mountain, which are now preserved in the National Museum in Beijing.
