Sunrise is arguably the best time to survey the surrounding countryside. If you time your ascent up the 7,000 steps to perfection, you can arrive at the peak just as the sun is edging up over the horizon. The stars gradually disappear as the heavens fill with pale light. Soon, the brilliant yellow of the new dawn is upon you, and the mountain, veiled in darkness on your ascent, reveals itself beneath your feet. If you’re lucky, you’ll be standing above a sea of clouds from your vantage point atop a mountain-island. It is simply marvelous.

Tai’an’s Leisure Scene

Tai’an, south of the fabled mountain and north of Wenshui River, is a tourist destination in its own right. Its auspicious geographic location between a mountain and a river is deemed by ancient Chinese medicinal precepts to connect the essence of heaven and earth.

There are many health spas and natural springs in the city. Visitors take their pick. In the evenings local culture is on full display at shadow puppet shows, musical performances and cabaret-type theaters.

In Taishan Colorful Times, a combination of movie town and tourist resort, visitors can see flowers bloom in spring, take a dip in any number of lakes in summer, pick fruits in time for the autumn harvest and marvel at virgin snow in winter. Tourists jostle with locals for that perfect photo opportunity in the scenic area. At certain times of year happy brides and grooms descend on the area’s Tianhe Garden for pre-wedding photo shoots. The site recently launched a new tourism program – ethnic musical performances.

There are also activities for children in Tai’an. Fantawild is Tai’an’s very own adventure park. It features Disney-esque castles, roller coasters and Ferris Wheels. At the center of a park is a lovely lake, which makes a great spot for parents to relax while the children tire themselves out on the rides.

Another attraction in the city for adults and children alike is Tianlecheng, an indoor water park. It features a white beach with sand imported from Phuket, Thailand. The park is the largest of its kind in Asia. There is also a salt-water river in the complex; revelers float just as they would do in salt-water bodies such as the Dead Sea.

Hot springs make for a relaxing way to spend a day, and also carry medicinal benefits. Tai’an’s favorite is called simply “Tai’an Hot Spring”; it’s a natural formation and has high mineral content. You’ll come away from a visit feeling – and looking – great.

The holiday-making resort Baotailong opened its doors last June. The site sits upon an underground river. Rubber tubes are on hire; float down the river at your own leisure. Also within the resort complex is a bird-watching island, a man-made wetlands zone, the Wanshou Peak and a cultural park. A few days in Baotailong is a few days well spent.

Cultural Tourism

Off the southern flank of the Tai’an section of Beijing-Shanghai Railway stands a modernistic building. It is the Tai’an Art and Culture Center. On its grounds are the city library, an art museum, a gallery and a theater. It serves as an all-encompassing platform for cultural exchange, teaching and performance.

The film town in Dongping County is themed on Outlaws of the Marsh, one of the four Chinese classic novels written in the 14th century. The town’s buildings are all in the construction style of the Song Dynasty and appear in period-piece films every year. Visitors are free to don Song costumes and wonder around when there’s a lull in filming. At noon time, there’s a range of restaurants open to the public, where you can feast on meat and liquor, just as the heroes in Outlaws of the Marsh were fond of doing. After lunch you can take a boat ride on Dongping Lake. Your last stop should be the fortress on Liugong Mountain, a site mentioned in the novel.

There is also a culture and tourism plaza in Tai’an, which is home to first-tier Chinese culture brands such as the Liu Laogen Theater from northeastern China, the Pan Xiaoting Billard Club, Julecun Restaurant and Laoshe Teahouse. Visitors can get to know local folk arts that have been listed as national intangible cultural heritages, such as the Taishan shadow play, colored glazed wares from Zibo City, papercuts from Gaomi City, New Year woodblock prints from Yangjiabu Village, kites from Weifang City, clay dolls from Huimin County and Shandong-style embroidery. The cultural items and artworks are not simply displayed and sold. Visitors get a chance to see how they are made and can even have a go at making their own pieces.

Traveling in Tai’an is not complete without making forays into the local cuisine. Famous local dishes include the Taishan Mountain Tofu Banquet, which features over 100 different tofu dishes; Chilin (red scale) Fish, a kind of freshwater fish indigenous to Taishan Mountain springs; Taishan Mountain green tea, and locals’ favorite items — baked donkey oil cake and Taishan thin pancakes.

Another activity visitors can’t afford to miss in Tai’an is the Fengshan Ceremony, which today takes the form of a large-scale live-action performance. The ceremony is performed every evening on Tianzhu Peak of the eastern section of Taishan Mountain. The performance was choreographed by Mei Shuaiyuan, founder of China’s large-scale landscape live-action performance art.

At eight o’clock in the evening, visitors take their seats in the outdoor theater, spectacularly set under Tianzhu Peak. In front of them stands the stage with the mountain scenery as a backdrop. The stars begin to reveal themselves just as the performance gets underway; the whistling of the wind through the pine trees below adds to the drama. The performance lasts 80 minutes and features 500 actors, all of whom change costumes 10 times during the show. The interaction between light and sound makes for a splendid ambience. The performance sticks faithfully to the ceremony as Chinese emperors would have performed it in the past. The story follows emperors over thousands of years and across five dynasties: Qin, Han, Tang, Song and Qing.

For visitors to Tai’an, Taishan Mountain is a must. But the reverse is also true: a trip to the mountain is incomplete without stopping in the city. Standing atop China’s most sacred mountain, the city looks insignificant. But Taishan is nothing if not the collective consciousness of the Chinese people. And that consciousness finds its home in Tai’an City.