Drum Mountain
Drum Mountain is a Buddhist place of interest, with 969 meters height and has awesome scenery in surrounding. Drum Mountain or Gu Shan in local tongue, is situated in the eastern part of Fuzhou City, on the north bank of the Min River. There is a giant drum-shaped rock at the summit, and it is said that when heavy rains fall, the rock makes the sound like a beaten drum. Thus people call it the Drum Mountain, “Gu” which mean drum, and “Shan” meaning mountain.
Drum Mountain famous as tourist destination in Fuzhou, with more than hundred places of interest in the vicinity of the mountain, including natural scenery, historical and cultural sites. The most popular one is Yong Quan Temple (Yong Quan Si) or also often called Gushing Spring Temple, this 1,000 year old temple represents the grandeur of ancient China architecture. Yong Quan Temple was built in 908 AD during The Five Dynasties, with initial name "Palace for Prime Minister", and latter changed as "Gushing Spring Monastery of Baiyun Peak" in Song Dynasty. During The Ming Dynasty its renamed as "Gushing Spring Temple" which inspire from the spring in front of its gate. Yong Quan Temple is situated at the foot of the White Cloud Peak of Drum Mountain, 455 m. above sea level. It is the first of five Buddhist temples in Fuzhou and still preserves large and middle-sized palaces and temple halls until today.
Another Drum Mountain's attraction is Eighteen Sights of Bodhidharma, which is located at the foot of Lion Peak, west of Yongquan Temple. During the reign of Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, there was a poet known as Wei Jie, who carved the eighteen sight in the crag outside the Bodhidharma cave.
White Cloud Cave stands in the northwestern of Drum Mountain with over 700 m above sea level. They named it White Cloud Cave because the white clouds frequently float into the cave and people can not see each other within a short distance.
If you want to reach the peak of Drum Mountain, there is 3 ways to the summit :
- Climb it through the stairway path, this is the best way to enjoy the natural scenery of Drum Mountain (many local people who take daily exercise via this path)
- Taking cable car from the foot of Gu Shan to the Eighteen Sights of Bodhidharma
- Via bus, there's a road that leads to the peak.
How to visit Drum Mountain :
You may take the Gu Shan (Drum Mountain) Special Line from Wuyi Square for 7 RMB, or take bus No. 7, 36, 37, 808, 815, 949, 957, 960 for 2 RMB, alternatively you can take Mawei Special Bus Line to Gu Shan. The easiest way is riding taxi from Fuzhou downtown that will cost around 20 RMB, with around 15-20 minutes accessed.