Lianfeng Cloud Sea

The Lianfeng Cloud Sea Scenic Area is located in Baihua Village, Rongcheng Town, Qingyang County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province, at the northern foot of Mount Jiuhua, within the Lianhua Peak sector in the north-eastern part of Mount Jiuhua UNESCO Global Geopark. It is about 4 to 7 kilometers southwest of Qingyang County seat and about 2 kilometers from the Jiuhuashan Mountain Station of the Chizhou–Huangshan High-Speed Railway, offering convenient transportation. The scenic area covers an area of over 400 mu (approximately 26.7 hectares), with an additional protected area of over 1,000 mu (approximately 66.7 hectares). It was rated as a national AAAA-level tourist attraction in 2012. Its main peak, Lianhua Peak, has an elevation of 1,048 meters and is the first of the nine peaks of the Mount Jiuhua range. Because the mountain resembles a pen rack, it is also called "Pen Rack Mountain". Additionally, as the overlapping peaks look like a blooming lotus when viewed from above and a horizontal pen rack when viewed from the side, and are often shrouded in mist and clouds, the scene is named "Lianfeng Cloud Sea". This view was listed as one of the "Ten Scenes of Jiuhua" during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.

The Lianfeng Cloud Sea Scenic Area is one of the birthplaces of Mount Jiuhua's Buddhist culture. A local saying goes, "First there was Lotus, then there was Jiuhua." According to records, after the Silla monk Jin Qiaojue (the incarnation of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva) crossed the sea to Tang China, he began his cultivation at Lianhua Peak before finally reaching the foot of Shiwang Peak on Mount Jiuhua.

The scenic area contains numerous historical relics: stone houses and stone bridges from the Song Dynasty still exist; the Jingxin Ancient Temple, built entirely of stone in the 18th year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty (1480), remains preserved to this day. Zhonglianhua Hut was rebuilt in the early Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (c. 1506); its ruin still has stone pillars standing on the original site, with Guanyin Cave nearby, and preserves the Lianhua Peak Stele Inscription from the 7th year of the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty (1729) and a cursive-script stone stele inscription from the 7th year of the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty (1627). On the upper Lianhua Peak, there is an ancient stockade gate of the "Niupi Stockade" from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. The Southern Song Dynasty poet-monk Xitan once dwelled in the Sutra-Hiding Cave for meditation, using a stone as a table, leaving behind the verse: "Where stones and clouds overlap, two or three thatched huts are deeply hidden."

The natural landscape of the scenic area is renowned for its majesty, steepness, and elegance. The main peak, Lianhua Peak, rises abruptly with precipitous cliffs. There are many stone caves formed by natural boulders and the deep Shuanglong Grand Canyon Corridor. The main attractions include eight major sights: Lianfeng Cloud Sea, Jinshan Red Leaves, Bodhidharma Facing the Wall, Wuzhen Maopeng (Awakening to Truth Hut), Cave Hiding Sutras, Jiuhua Scholar's House, Huizhou Residential Charm, and Dragon Pool Reflecting the Moon.

The scenic area has lush vegetation and a high forest coverage rate. The concentration of negative oxygen ions in the air reaches 10,000 per cubic centimeter, making it a natural forest oxygen bar. In autumn, visitors can enjoy a sea of fiery red maple leaves, with the red maples, blue streams, and white stones forming an exquisite picture.

Throughout the ages, many men of letters have left poems here. The Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai wrote of Lianhua Peak: "The Milky Way hangs down with green water, showing nine lotus blooms in beauty." Su Che, one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, also sighed: "Suddenly I am startled by the nine peaks of Mount Jiuhua, standing tall and bowing before me."

The scenic area integrates tourism, leisure vacations, wellness, and Zen practice. It houses the four-star Lianhua Peak Ecological Park Hotel and a Folk Culture Museum, which displays local cultural relics such as Qingyang Peasant Paintings and farming implements. It is an important reception area for the rear mountain tourism belt of Mount Jiuhua.