Mount Song, the Central Sacred Mountain｜The pursuit of freedom never stops

📍 Songshan Scenic Area, Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou, Henan 🗺️Route: South Gate of Mount Song → Junji Peak → Luya Waterfall → Main Gate of Luya Waterfall Scenic Area 🎫If only hiking, purchase the full-price ticket for Taishi Mountain at 50💰/person ⏰12:00−19:00 (7 hours) 👉🏻Photography takes about 2 hours. The difficulty is moderate, similar to Shenzhen's Wutong Mountain, with many steps. Both ascent and descent are mostly stair paths, so knee pads are essential❗️ 🎒Since all four of us carried heavy backpacks (no small bags), we just brought one bottle of water and knee pads each. Our snacks were leftover buns from breakfast. 👟Regular sports shoes are sufficient for this route—no need for hiking boots, just comfortable ones. 🍞Plenty of supplies along the way: mineral water starts at 3💰/bottle at the beginning and 8💰/bottle at the summit. Sausages and instant noodles🍜 are also widely available. 🚾Restrooms🚻 are frequent on the way up but scarce during descent, so use them when you see them to avoid long waits later. 🦯Hiking poles are helpful—recommended if you have them. ⚠️If starting after 12:00 PM, bring a headlamp. The dense forest canopy makes it dark quickly. 🕑12:00 Depart from the South Gate of Mount Song. 12:15 Reach "Gao Shan Yang Zhi"—5.2km to the summit. 13:00 Arrive at the hiking entrance with a ticket office and a photo spot at the "Central Sacred Mountain Mount Song" stone📷. 13:30 Finish photos + ticket purchase, enter via ID scan. 13:40 Reach Taishi Xiandu (Laojun Cave). 14:10 Arrive at the 3.5km marker (see photo). 15:10 Reach Sanhuangkou. 15:40 Summit at Junji Peak (6km). The sign there had a long photo queue, so we skipped it and descended (for us, anywhere can be a photo spot—we improvise and crowds follow😂). 🕓15:45 Start descending via Luya Waterfall. 16:20 At 7.5km, a tree grows horizontally across the path—we climbed it for a 30-minute photoshoot. 17:25 First restroom🚻 on descent (10.5km). 17:40 Reach Yixiantian (near 12km), paused for another 30-minute photoshoot. 18:20 See Luya Waterfall. A short walk leads to a suspension bridge. 18:55 Descent complete✅