Racing the Dragons in Yueyang

Junshan Mountain

Junshan is an islet less than one square kilometer in size, located 15 kilometers southwest of the city in Dongting Lake. Chinese mythology says that in the remote past Monarch Shun's concubines Ehuang and Nüying were buried there. Qu Yuan wrote about them in his poems, referring to them as Xiang Jun and Xiang Furen. Later people began to call the islet Junshan, or Mount Jun.

Bamboo with spotted stems grows here and there is, of course, a story to explain this curiosity. The legend goes that when hearing Monarch Shun died while conducting his southern inspection tour, Ehuang and Nüying wept with grief and their tears fell on the bamboo, spotting their stems. The scientific explanation is that the dots are the eroding residue of fungus that attached itself to the young bamboo shoots.

Another legend about the islet is a love story from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). On a snowy winter's day, a young scholar named Liu Yi was on his way to take the imperial exam in the capital and met a shepherd girl, who turned out to be the third princess of the Dragon King of Dongting Lake. The young woman was married to an abusive husband native to this area. Learning that Liu Yi was from her hometown, Third Princess begged him to send a word to her family. Out of sympathy for her, Liu Yi abandoned his mission to take the exam and turned back home to deliver her message. Happily, Third Princess was rescued and returned to her family. She expressed her gratitude by marrying him.

Junshan has no shortage of legendary sites. There are also a Xiangfei Temple and a Liuyi Well, and Qinshihuang, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, was said to suppress the waves by affixing seals to the sheer mountain cliff sides.

The islet shelters a Junshan Silver Needle tea planation, producing leaves of such superb quality it was listed an imperial tribute by the Tang imperial court and remained so in the following dynasties.

Tips:

Entrance fee: RMB 60

Transport: Take Special Tour Bus No. 15 at the Yueyang Railway Station, or take the boat from the Yueyang Tower Wharf.