One of the mountains at the Laoshan scenic area. (May 2004)

Laoshan (ch. 崂山; pinyin Láoshān) is a famous mountain in Shandong province, China. It lies about 30km east of the city of Qingdao, and is an important tourist destination. Photo of Laoshan taken 2004/05 by me (prat). ... Photo of Laoshan taken 2004/05 by me (prat). ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell and yin means sound. The most common variant of pinyin in use is called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: , Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska (USA) has the highest visible base-to-summit elevation on Earth (approximately 5400 metres). ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Shāndōng; Wade-Giles: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern Peoples Republic of China. ... For other province-level divisions, see Political divisions of China. ... (Simplified Chinese: 青岛; Traditional Chinese: 青島; pinyin: QÄ«ngdÇŽo; Wade-Giles: Ching-tao), well-known to the West by its Postal System Pinyin transliteration Tsingtao, is a sub-provincial city in eastern Shandong province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

History

Laoshan has been an important center of Taoism in China for many centuries. Taoism (sometimes written as Daoism) is the English name for: (a) a philosophical school based on the texts the Tao Te Ching (ascribed to Laozi and alternately spelled Dào Dé Jīng) and the Zhuangzi. ...

In 412 the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Faxian landed at Laoshan on his return from India. Events The Visigoths move into Gaul, led by Alarics brother Ataulf. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found in Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... Fǎxiǎn (pinyin, Chinese characters: 法顯, also romanized as Fa-Hien or Fa-hsien) (ca. ...

One of the main reasons that both locals and tourists visit Laoshan is to see two specific temples located in the mountain. In one temple resides a goddess who is said to send a wife from heaven for any man that kneels before the altar and prays for one. Similarly, the other temple contains an altar to a male god who caters to hopeful females wishing to find husbands. A person's presence is not necessarily required in order to pray for a future mate: many hopeful mothers have been known secretly to visit the goddess's temple in hopes of finding the perfect daughter-in-law for their sons.

Many gamblers visit Laoshan for the famous tree located in the mountain, as it is said that three pats of the tree's trunk will bring instant luck for those seeking money.

Another popular tourist area is a pond located near the very center of the mountain. It's said that if a person is able to place a paper dollar in the water and have it float on the surface of the water, the owner of the money will be blessed with good luck.

Tsingtao Brewery is made famous because its beer is said to be brewed with Laoshan spring water. Past packaging of Tsingtao Beer in a display at the Qingdao Beer Museum Tsingtao Brewery (Chinese: ; pinyin: Qīngdǎo píjiǔ)(SEHK: 168) is Chinas largest brewery. ...

External links

• LaoShan Photo Gallery