Shi Bao Zhai

Chinese Name: 石宝寨 (Shi Bao Zhai)
Location: Shibao Town, Zhongxian County, Chongqing
Ticket: Entrance Ticket CNY50.00
Estimated tour time: 1 hour
Recommended time to visit: All year round.
Nearby attractions: Xituo Ancient Town, Qianye Pasture, etc.

Shibaozhai is a national 4A level scenic spot, a national key cultural relic protection unit, one of the best scenic spots in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, one of the seven wonders of China listed by Discovery Channel in the United States and one of the eight fantastic buildings in the world. Located on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Zhongxian County, Chongqing Municipality, Shibaozhai known as Pearl on the Yangtze River is 29 kilometers away from Zhongxian county seat.

Shibaozhai is a rocky and craggy hill with extremely steep sides and is about 200 meters tall. On the river side is a red pavilion which leans against the side of the hill providing a walkway to the temple at the top. The red pavilion built against the rock face is one of the largest wooden temples of the kind with nine floors. A yellow entrance at the base of the pavilion provides access.

The pavilion was built 400 years ago. The rock is said to be a multicolor stone left by Nu Wa when repairing the sky(Nu Wa repairing the sky is one of the ancient Chinese myths and legends), so it is called Shibao meaning Precious Stone. The stone shape is like a jade seal, hence the name Jade Seal Mountain. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the peasant leader Tan Hong rose up and called himself Wuling King. He took this place as his fortress hence the name Shibaozhai meaning Precious Stone Fortress. It was built in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, maintained and reconstructed in the Qing Dynasty.

The pavilion rises against the hill in a strange shape. The whole building is composed of the village gate, the village body and the stone temple, total 12 layers, 56 meters high. 

Shibaozhai was originally built with nine floors, and the top three floors were built in 1956 when the building was repaired. In 2009, the rescue protection project which lasted more than three years was fully completed and reopened to the public. The new Shibaozhai, surrounded by a huge embankment has become the only large scale man made "bonsai" on the Yangtze River and enjoys the reputation of "Small Penglai" of the Yangtze River(Penlai is one of the three sacred mountains in the Bohai Sea, where the immortals live in Chinese mythology).

Shibaozhai is a lonely peak rising from the ground. The ancients built a temple on top of the mountain with the help of iron chains hanging from the cliff. In the middle Ming Dynasty, local persons of merit and prestige hired skilled craftsmen to study how to go up the mountain instead of iron chains. They built this nine story building according to the shape of the mountain. From then on, pilgrims and visitors can go up to the top of the mountain without having to climb the iron chains.