Ultimate Guide to a Two-Day Trip to Jinggangshan

Jinggangshan is located in Ji’an City in the southwest of Jiangxi Province. It is located in the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountains at the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. In ancient times, it was known as “at the junction of Chenzhou, Hengyang, Hunan and Jiangxi, in the belly of the thousand-mile Luoxiao Mountains.” The Jinggangshan scenic area covers an area of 333 square kilometers and has 11 major scenic areas, 76 scenic spots, and more than 460 landscape features. Thousands of peaks compete in beauty, and thousands of valleys contend in flow. The vast forest sea, flying waterfalls and flowing springs combine magnificence, danger, tranquility, strangeness and beauty. There are peaks and ridges, rocks, waterfalls, karst caves, hot springs, rare animals and plants, and alpine pastoral scenery. There are not only magnificent sea of clouds, wonderful and unique waterfalls, magnificent and splendid sunrises, and the world-famous ten-mile azalea corridor, but also the Huangyangjie and MaoPing Bajiao Tower that are famous all over the world, as well as the Jinggangshan main peak in the background pattern of the fourth edition of 100 yuan RMB. There is also the most complete sub-primeval forest preserved so far at the same latitude in the world. In addition to the gorgeous natural scenery, Jinggangshan has forged a world-famous “cradle of revolution” with its glorious and splendid revolutionary history. With its profound red cultural heritage, it has become a “spiritual home” in people’s hearts. In the majestic five hundred li Jinggang Mountains, 108 revolutionary historical sites and relics are scattered among them. It has become a revolutionary history museum without walls, a vivid classroom for people to cultivate sentiment, purify the soul, improve the realm and strengthen beliefs, and an important base for patriotism education and revolutionary tradition education. The Jinggangshan scenic area currently has ten scenic areas such as Ciping Scenic Area, Huangyangjie Scenic Area, Longtan Scenic Area, Main Peak Scenic Area, and Du Juan Mountain Scenic Area. There are many scenic spots represented by Longtan, Wuzhi Peak, Golden Toad Looking at the Moon, Big and Small Wujing, Ciping, and stele forest.

Longtan, also known as Five Dragon Pools, gets its name because the Wushen River leaps over the mountain rocks five times in a river course of less than two kilometers, forming five terraced waterfalls and deep pools. The Longtan scenic area is a scenic spot in Jinggangshan. It covers an area of 889 hectares. Except for Xiaojing, it is all natural landscapes and is famous for its waterfalls.

Wuzhi Peak is located six kilometers southwest of Ciping. It gets its name because the peaks look like the five fingers of a human hand. It has an altitude of 1438 meters. The peaks of Wuzhi Peak extend from southeast to northwest for dozens of kilometers. There is no one in sight. People can only look from afar on the “observation deck” on the other side. It has been listed as a nature reserve. There are huge peaks on both sides facing each other, and in the middle is a deep valley. At the bottom of the valley is the Longqing River, that is, the valley of the Jinggangshan River. The cliffs on the river valley are rich in stone fungus and so on. There is also a waterfall on Wuzhi Peak with a drop of about 200 meters. The waterfall of Wuzhi Peak is the largest waterfall in Jinggangshan.

Golden Toad Looking at the Moon is located in the Du Juan Mountain scenic area (that is, Bijia Mountain before its name was changed). In a dense azalea forest, there are several huge stones, slanting forward and backward, shaped exactly like a golden toad with a black frame. Looking up at the sky day and night, people call it the “Golden Toad Looking at the Moon” stone. It is one of the beautiful sceneries of Bijia Mountain. Opposite the “Golden Toad Looking at the Moon” stone, there is a cluster of alpine azalea forests. 50 meters to the west of the “Golden Toad Looking at the Moon” stone, there are several relatively large and flat stones.

Ciping is the center of the revolutionary struggle in Jinggangshan. It is located in a small basin among the lofty mountains. There are revolutionary museums, martyrs’ memorial towers, etc. There are roads leading to various memorial sites and major scenic spots from Ciping. The five major sentry posts on the revolutionary battlefield are not far from Ciping and can be reached by Wushao Highway. Among the five major sentry posts, Huangyangjie has an altitude of 1343 meters. It is located high and overlooking the mountain pass. With a dangerous terrain, the local people call it Motianling.

Big and Small Wujing refers to five mountain basin villages surrounded by mountains and shaped like wells, namely Dajing, Xiaojing, Zhongjing, Shangjing and Xiajing. Dajing is the largest village among them and was an important place for Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Peng Dehuai and other Red Army soldiers to carry out revolutionary activities. On October 24, 1927, Mao Zedong led his troops to Jinggangshan and arrived at Dajing for the first time. Since then, this place has become a permanent place for the Red Army. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Chen Yi and others have deployed battles here many times and smashed many military “encirclement and suppression” by the reactionary forces of the Kuomintang.