Write an essay for me about Changzhi Tourist Scenic Area
Erlang Mountain is located in the Zibo Yuanquan Scenic Area, south of Yuanquan Village, with an altitude of 379 meters. It runs north-south, facing the river in the east, with steep cliffs, and stands proudly in the sky; in the south, the terrain gradually becomes lower and broader. Viewed from the north, the main peak is rounded at the bottom and pointed at the top, in the shape of a cone. The mountain is covered with pines and strong cypresses, and bushes are thickly covered with greenery, sealing the mountain.
According to the elders of Yuanquan Village, Erlang Mountain was originally called Changshou Mountain. According to legend, in the late Sui Dynasty, peasant leader Wang Bo revolted in Changbai Mountain, Zouping, Shandong, and people around Yuanquan rose up to respond. One day, officers and soldiers suddenly surrounded the rebel camp. At the critical moment, a group of troops came from the southwest. A general was vaguely visible at the head, wearing a three-mountain flying phoenix hat, holding a three-pointed two-edged gun, followed closely behind him. Wherever a fierce dog went, officers and soldiers fled one after another, quickly relieving the rebels from the siege. Afterwards, people speculated that the god Erlang appeared and led the heavenly soldiers and heavenly warriors to save the people. In order to express their gratitude for the rescue, people built a thatched cottage on Changshou Mountain, enshrined the spiritual tablet of "Erlang God", and renamed "Changshou Mountain" to "Erlang Mountain". Erlang God was sung into a god before the Tang Dynasty. When was the Erlang Temple built? According to the stele on the mountain in the second year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty, the Taishan Palace was built in the fourth year of Emperor You of the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 1052). It was rebuilt in the Chou Year (1565 AD), and other earlier temples cannot be verified.
There is no spring on the mountain. In the early years of Qianlong's reign, a stone pond was dug with a volume of 27 cubic meters. The water was stored and drinkable after rain. There is a stele titled "Record of Chi Chi", but the handwriting is weathered and it is difficult to see the full picture. There is an ancient stage on the southern neck of Shanfeng, which is the "treasure of the mountain". It is said that Erlang Mountain was originally the glans of a divine turtle, and Jinyin Mountain was its shell. The turtle head ate the source of water and followed Guozhuang as its tail, so there is a saying of "Jinguozhuang and Silver Source Spring". Following the guidance of a Feng Shui master, the ancients built a stage here to hold the turtle's neck. Every year on the 15th day of the third lunar month, a temple fair was held to perform operas and frighten the turtle.
There are two "Taoist Cave" on the cliff on the east side of the mountain. One is Master Ma Cave (Taoist Ma Laikun during the Qianlong Period, originally from Majiazhuang, Zichuan, and Lai Kun was his Taoist name) Cave, and the other is Master Zhao Cave (Taoist Zhao Mingzhen during the National Period of Huangtai Village, Yuanquan Town) Cave. It is said that Master Ma collects and grows medicines and gives them to the people, who then give them food and the like. His medical skills are so good that people come from hundreds of miles away to seek medical treatment. Within a few dozen miles of the source, people still believe in "Master Ma" devoutly, and there is an endless stream of people who come to ask for tea and prescriptions. The story of Master Ma's medical treatment during his lifetime is still passed down by word of mouth. The remains of Master Ma still exist in the cave, and they have been enjoying people's incense and offerings for three hundred years.
The trees on Erlang Mountain are mainly round-headed cypress, elm thorn, and shrubs. There are more than 20 types, densely packed and covered with green. Rare medicinal herbs such as Polygonum multiflorum, Bupleurum, and Ligustrum also grow in the gaps between the trees; mountain birds such as Gray Eyebrow, Pulsatilla, Mountain Monk, etc. rise and fall through the trees, making crisp chirping sounds. In recent years, Jinyinshan Park has been opened at the southern foot of Erlang Mountain, and more than 120,000 pine trees, torch trees, green bamboos, boxwoods, hibiscus, acacia and other landscape trees have been planted to make Erlang Mountain more beautiful.
Climbing Erlang Mountain, there are two pedestrian paths leading from the northern foot of the mountain to Beitianmen and Nantianmen respectively. In order to meet the needs of tourism development, a new spacious mountain road was opened in 1999, the road surface was hardened, and the roadside was greened. Vehicles of all sizes can pass unimpeded and can go directly to Erlang Mountain. Erlang Mountain has now become a famous tourist attraction far and near.