Luyashan Mountain. Hanging coffins (石门悬棺 - Shíménxuánguān).

Rem Sapozhnikov / August 2016

Our next stop was the valley where all the interesting things: temples, trails and even coffins – are all located on the steep slopes of the mountains. China Daily was taking care of all the entrance tickets, but I managed to find out that the fee for one person was 25 yuan (for the coffins and temple) and 30 yuan (for the path through the rocks along the cliffs, where we did not go).

The map of this tourist area.
As so often in China, the main sights are located within a kilometer or two from the entrance.
↑ Click for detailed view ↑

Those who prefer not want to walk, may for a fee ride on a donkey or an electric car.

Above you can see the trail (古栈道 - Gǔzhàndào) cutting through the rocks of the Qingzhen Mountain (清真山 - Qīngzhēn shān). According to one version, the paths and bridges here were built by the monks, in order to interconnect all of the local mountain temples. It is believed that this mountain route was built during the Tang Dynasty, in the times of Zhenyuan period (785-805). The total length of trails found here through the rocks and along steep cliffs is 42 km. About 2 km, restored and opened for tourists. Unfortunately, due to time constraints we never walked along.

Small Hanging Temple (小悬空寺 - Xiǎo xuánkōng sì) at 100 metres above the ground.
Appeared at the same time as mountain trails — 785-805 years, in the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty.

The method of construction of this temple in the Luyashan Mountain is the same as Hanging Temple in Hengshan Mountain.
Just the temple in the Hengshan Mountain is world famous, and this one is not.

The temple is reachable by stone steps within few minutes.

A short walk through the valley from the Small Hanging Temple is another attraction, the hanging coffins. For the first time in China, they were discovered 1,000 years ago, and since then they have remained a mystery to archaeologists. Similar large-scale burial sites are found in China's southwest in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. And also to the north from there, in the province of Hubei, in the area of the Three Gorges hydroelectric power station, on the cliffs along the Yangtze River. It is believed that this method of burial was popular among the people of Bo. In Gongxian County (珙县 - Gǒngxiàn) of the Yibin City District (宜宾 - Yíbīn) of the Sichuan province, they found 280 hanging coffins, fixed to a height of 10 to 130 meters.

The age of the coffins found in different parts of the country varies from 400 to 2500 years.