5 Days in Tianmu Mountain

Plan on 90 km and about two hours from Hangzhou — metro line 16 (2020) to Lin'an, then roughly 25 km by bus or taxi. Evening light on the temple, founded in 1665 and rebuilt after the 1941 bombing.

1. tianmu shan chanyuan temple

The signed stone path gains about 700 m over 4 km from the temple forecourt (around 330 m) to Kaishan Old Hall near 1,100 m, under ancient Chinese firs; the reserve dates to 1956 and entered the UNESCO Man-and-Biosphere network in 1996.

1. tianmu shan big tree kingdom
2. tianmu shan kaishan old hall

Above the old hall the trail pushes to the 1,506-metre west summit; the east peak measures 1,478 m. On the descent, look for the multi-trunk ancient ginkgo billed as over 12,000 years old, and the signboard story of the Tianmu oak, whose wild stand once fell to five trees.

1. tianmu shan west peak
2. tianmu shan ancient ginkgo

Canyon boardwalks first, then the climb to Zhinan village near 600 m; ginkgo and maples usually colour from late October into November. After the White Dew solar term in early September, local hickory nuts fill the roadside stalls.

1. tianmu shan taihu source
2. tianmu shan zhinan village

A morning among dark volcanic boulders at the canyon near the mountain gate, then the pond cypresses standing in shallow water at Qingshan Lake, ringed by a 42-km greenway. Qian Liu's mausoleum (852-932), founder of the Wuyue kingdom (907-978), sits in downtown Lin'an on the way to the metro for departure.

1. tianmu shan grand canyon
2. tianmu shan qingshan lake