Mount Tai (Taishan)

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Mixed, 1987); First Of The Five Great Mountains; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Tai'an, Shandong

The foremost of China's Five Great Mountains and for three thousand years the country's most sacred peak, rising to 1,545 metres at Jade Emperor Peak above the city of Tai'an in Shandong. Emperors from Qin Shi Huang onward climbed it to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices to heaven and earth, and Confucius is said to have remarked from its summit that the world looked small. The classic ascent climbs more than 6,000 stone steps from the Red Gate through Midway Gate to Heaven and up the brutal Eighteen Bends to the South Gate to Heaven, past temples, memorial arches and cliffs carved with imperial inscriptions. Thousands climb through the night to watch sunrise from the summit. A UNESCO mixed World Heritage site since 1987, it begins at the vast Dai Temple in town.

Jade Emperor Peak, Taishan Scenic Area, Tai'an, Shandong, China

Trails open to night climbers with an advance reservation; entry checks pause 00:00-5:00 (since August 2025), so enter before about 22:00. Buses and cable cars roughly 6:00-18:00 in peak season, shorter in winter. Temples keep daytime hours.

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