Li Shimin's Mausoleum Qinling Palace: A Popular Spring Hiking Route in Xi'an
I am a university teacher who researches tourism, advocating for immersive and culturally rich travel lifestyles. Welcome everyone to follow me.
Spring has arrived. Although this year is special, people are starting to go out to enjoy the scenery.
The happiness of Xi'an people lies in the fact that there is a Qinling Mountain to the south of the city. The Qinling Mountain and the Guanzhong Plain have a large elevation difference, about 500 meters in Xi'an, but if you go south for tens of kilometers, you can reach a height of 3000 meters.
This 2500-meter elevation difference has created the unique charm of Qinling. Qinling has always been a paradise for Xi'an people to enjoy nature. Legend has it that Qinling has seventy-two, which is actually far more than that.
Today I’m introducing this route, which is a popular route favored by Xi'an people in spring.
This is the famous Huangyu Temple – Wo Fo Temple – Qinghua Mountain route. This season, there are full of rhododendrons on the mountain, and it’s free to visit – you really shouldn’t miss it!
It’s not a particularly difficult outdoor route, with a low difficulty coefficient, so you won’t get lost, and it’s especially suitable for ordinary people. If you haven’t been to Xi'an, you can set off this week after reading my article.
It’s not recommended to drive this route, because it’s not a loop, making it difficult to find parking.
The entrance to this route is at Fengyagu, and after going up for a few kilometers, you’ll turn left to Huangyu Temple on a dirt road. This dirt road is about 5 kilometers long. You can drive up, but take a look at the road width, it’s a challenging road.
After climbing to the top of Huangyu Temple Village, there is a nearby Cuiwei Palace ruins. Cuiwei Palace is renowned, as it was the place where Emperor Li Shimin eventually lived and died. When Li Yuan disliked the heat in Chang’an, he built Taixing Palace here, and Li Shimin expanded and converted it into Cuiwei Palace during his reign. It’s one of the Four Major Palaces of the Tang Dynasty, and the other three palaces are Huaqing Palace in Lintong, Lin You Jiu Cheng Palace, and Shaanxi Province’s Yu Hua Palace.
In the 19th year of Zhengyuan, Emperor Li Shimin personally launched an attack on Koguryo, was hit by a heavy arrow, and his body was constantly improving after this. In the 21st year of Zhengyuan, Emperor Li Shimin also got a stroke, and after several serious illnesses, Emperor Li Shimin became obsessed with elixirs and made a dream of immortality. As a result, he took too much medicine and died at the age of 50.
The place where Emperor Li Shimin died was Cuiwei Palace. After more than a thousand years, the royal palace had no traces on the ground.
I'm sorry that the pictures of Cuiwei Palace ruins I took back then were lost, so I can't show them here. If no one told you that this small village is Cuiwei Palace, you wouldn't know that this was the place where Emperor Li Shimin lived for a long time.
When you take this route, I think a bicycle is the best tool. When we rode our bikes up, many outdoor enthusiasts used our bikes as props for taking pictures.
Because this road is easy for everyone to walk on, there are a lot of people who come to it in spring. It's really crowded, so you won’t worry about getting lost. The whole trip won’t take too long, and you don’t need to bring too many supplies.
After going over a mountain pass, you can see full of rhododendrons.
When you are on this kind of pristine road, you really enjoy it. I personally think a bicycle is especially suitable for this road.
It keeps going down, and you’ll eventually reach a landmark node – Wo Fo Temple. Wo Fo Temple is an important supply point on this route. There’s simple food and beverage sales. You can eat a bowl of cold skin and drink a bottle of water. If you’re interested, you can also visit Wo Fo Temple, the ticket price is only a few yuan.
Continuing down the road will lead you to Qinghua Mountain. Qinghua Mountain is currently developed into a scenic area. If you enter from the ring road, there is a 20-yuan entrance fee. If you come in from the mountain, you don’t need to pay this fee.
As you enter Qinghua Mountain, it turns into a paved road, and there's no longer that pristine feeling, but it's much more convenient. Along the way, you can see the vast Guanzhong Plain and marvel at the wonders of nature.
After exiting, you’ll arrive at the ring road, where you can take a bus home.
This route is very suitable for novice hikers. It’s usually from March to November, and each season has its own charm. Especially in spring, I think it’s the most beautiful.
