Mount Hengshan has been regarded since ancient times as the "First Mountain Beyond the Great Wall".Legend says that when King Shun visited the mountain and saw the lofty peaks,he named it the "North Sacred Mountain".

Mount Hengshan is located in the northern part of Shanxi and Hebei provinces, stretching 250 kilometres in a northeast-southwest direction. People in the past called it "A Fort Guarding the North Borders",depicting its mafnificence and wonder.The mountain links with the Taihang mountain range in the east,and to the north it faces the vast expanse of a plateau, thus forming a matural screen for Shanxi Province. The Great Wall wonds up the mountain, forming many ancient strategic passes.

Mount Hengshan's main peak, Tianfeng(Heavenly Peak)Ridge,rise 2017 metres above sea level.Its steep northern slope is covered with pine trees, and locatrd on its southern slope are temples and monasreries built by ancient kings and emperors to worship their ancestors. Mount Hengshan was once famoys for its "Eighteen Sites of Interest",and there still remain a dozen sites such as Xuankong(Suspending)Temple, Zhaodian Hall,Flying Stone Cave,Huixian(Celestial-Meeting)Mansion and Jiutain(Nine Heavens)Palace.