Discover Chuzhou: Langya Mountain and Culture

Chuzhou brings together the landscape of Langya Mountain and a rich history of pavilions, temples and calligraphy. Langya Mountain lies southwest of the city and is an eastern spur of the Huaiyang Mountains. It was named after the title of a ruler during the Eastern Jin dynasty. If you want to combine nature and culture on your trip, you’ll find both in this distinctive landscape.

Langya Shan: Forest and Landscape on Two Scales

A scenic area at Langya Shan covers 4.98 square kilometres and is divided into five sections. These include the cultural and visitor area around the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man, Tongle Garden, Nantian Gate and the recreation area by Shensiu Lake. The larger Langya Shan scenic area covers 115 square kilometres and also includes the areas around Puxian and Qingliu Pass. The different scales help distinguish the names: 4.98 square kilometres refers to one area, while 115 square kilometres describes the larger scenic area.

Langya Mountain is a national forest park and is classified as a national 5A-rated scenic area. More than 85 percent of the mountain is covered by forest, giving wooded slopes their defining character. When planning your trip, you can make Langya Mountain the focus for nature, with pavilions, inscriptions and temple history adding cultural themes.

Viewpoints and a Historic Trail

Nantian Gate stands at the highest point in the southeastern part of Langya Mountain. It is home to, among other things, Langya Pavilion and Huifeng Pavilion. From Langya Pavilion, you can see the surrounding mountains, the high-rises in eastern Chuzhou and the Yangtze River in the distance. This view brings together mountain scenery, the cityscape and a glimpse of the river.

Another distinctive feature is the Langya Ancient Road, a historic path paved with blue stone slabs that runs from the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man to Langya Temple. The route passes wooded mountain slopes, old trees and bamboo. If you’re interested in both the landscape and its historic sites, you can include this route in your trip planning as a destination in its own right. A one-day itinerary through the scenic area takes about 4.5 hours, not including meal and walking times.

Pavilions, Calligraphy and Ouyang Xiu

The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man, also known as Zuiweng Pavilion, was built in 1046 during the Qingli era of the Northern Song dynasty. The monk Zhixian of Langya Temple had it built for Ouyang Xiu when he was prefect of Chuzhou. The pavilion is one of China’s four famous pavilions and is considered the foremost among them. Its history makes it an important focal point for exploring the cultural history of Langya Mountain.

Inscriptions of Ouyang Xiu’s text “Record of the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man” are displayed in four styles at Tongle Garden: regular, cursive, clerical and seal script. The works include those by Su Tangqing, Su Shi, Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang, Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming and Zhang Ruitu, as well as dedicatory inscriptions by modern artists. The different script styles offer a tangible way to see how a text appears across various calligraphic traditions.

Ouyang Gong Hall is the main building of the Ouyang Xiu Memorial Museum in Tongle Garden. It houses an almost three-metre-high statue of Ouyang Xiu, and murals depicting his life. The rock inscriptions and steles of Langya Mountain are also part of its cultural heritage: they are designated as nationally protected cultural relics. These include seven notable Tang dynasty rock inscriptions and a stele inscribed by Su Shi with the “Record of the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man”.

Plan Your Trip to Chuzhou

Langya Temple adds to the area’s historical picture. It was built in 771 by Li Youqing, prefect of Chuzhou, and the monk Facheng, and is one of the nationally significant temple complexes. Ouyang Gong Hall brings together the memory of Ouyang Xiu and an account of his life; the pavilion, temple and inscriptions each offer a different way to explore the area’s history.

If you’re looking for a holiday apartment in Chuzhou, you can choose based on which of these themes you want to shape your trip: forest and mountain scenery, viewpoints or cultural history. The places described here offer specific starting points, without limiting your stay to just one kind of discovery. For a trip planned together, for example, viewpoints and nature can be considered alongside other interests such as calligraphy and history.

More destinations: Hefei, Huainan, Lu'an, Bozhou, Suzhou, Chizhou, Fuyang and Huangshan.

Go to the main travel overview: Anhui.