Haitang Mountain, a famous cultural mountain in northern China, is located in Daban Town, Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County, Fuxin City. Morning bells, evening drums, Buddhist cliff carvings, lush mountain, blooming mountain flowers, ancient pines and cypresses, unique peaks and peculiar rocks create the magnificent and gorgeous spring scenery together.

April is the most beautiful month as well as the best month for spring outings.

It took me around two hours to drive to the foot of Haitang Mountain from Shenyang City. Looking around while walking up the mountain along the stone steps, I saw clusters of mountain blossoms, either white or pink. They were dotted with greenery of various kinds that was dark green, light green, yellow green and so forth.

According to the tour guide, the Red Rock Valley is the best place to admire the trees and rocks in Haitang Mountain. The natural landscape is mainly characterized by peculiar rocks, gorgeous pines, and serene valleys. There are over 400 plant varieties in the Red Rock Valley. The forest coverage rate reaches as high as 86.6% . There are unique peaks, meandering mountain ridges, deep and serene valleys, and a forest of grotesque rocks. 17 ancient pines and yew trees (taxus chinensis), which are more than 400 years old, stand proudly on the cliffs. It is also home to more than 40 wild animal species. All these form “the splendid scenery of Haitang Mountain and the outstanding Buddhism cliff carvings on unique peaks”.

Haitang Mountain National Forest Park has been selected as one of the top ten forest parks for ecological tourism in Liaoning three times in a row.

There was once a question: why was the mountain named Haitang Mountain when there were no begonias (pronounced as haitang in Chinese)?

According to A Note of Mongolian Nomadic Life, Haitang Mountain was originally named Haiteha Mountain or Haituoha Mountain in Mongolian and Hanlongtan Mountain in Chinese. In Mongolian, haiteha refers to the hem of the Mongolian costume front with buttons on the right. Haitang Mountain, located at the eastern end of Yiwulyu Mountain, looks just like the hem of the Mongolian costume front with buttons on the right. Therefore, the meaning of Haitang Mountain in Mongolian is “hem mountain”, and Haitang Mountain is its homophonic name in Chinese.