The magnificent Songshan Mountain towers on the plain between Zhengzhou
and Luoyang, consisting of the peaks of Taishi and Shaoshi. Zhongyue
(the Central Sacred Mount) Temple at the front of Taishi was first built
in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B. C. ) and was renamed in the Northern
Wei period (386-534). A Taoist temple, it has 11 gates leading to the
final Imperial Library. In the temple, there are 300 ancient cypresses,
and more than 100 metal-cast statues and stone tablets. Shaolin Temple
at the foot of Shaoshi was first built in the Northern Wei period, and
has long been renown worldwide for kongfu, or Chinese martial arts.
There are 230 brick dagobas, the largest of its kind in China, erected
during the Tang, Song, An, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
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