Mount Tai

Mount Tai rises north of the city of Tai'an. Its Jade Emperor Peak stands 1,532.7 metres above sea level, although 1,545 metres is the figure most often quoted, and the mountain covers 426 square kilometres at its base. It is the eastern of the Five Sacred Mountains, the one associated with sunrise and renewal, and it has been a place of worship for at least three thousand years. In 1987 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meeting seven of the ten criteria and, with the Tasmanian Wilderness, sharing the record for the most criteria met. Chinese tradition calls it the longest of the five and the one that stands above the rest.