Ninghai Lianghuang Mountain 梁皇山 is located in Ninghai宁海 county, ~ 100km from Ningbo city. The mountain and area is famous for its green mountainous forests, waterfalls, mountain springs and fresh air. The Peak of Lianghuang Mountain stands 768.2m above sea level. This mountain was once visited by Ming Dynasty’s famous geologist and travel writer Xu Xiake徐霞客. Lianghuang Mountain was a place where he started to document his travels and write his diaries. In his “Xu Xiake Travel Notes”《徐霞客游记》 he has described some of scenic spots there. Part of a trail is even named after Xu Xiake.

At the south foot of the mountain there was built a Lianghuang temple梁皇寺 (formerly known as Chongfu temple崇福寺). Beside Lianghuang temple, there are several more scenic spots. 

We drove by car from Ningbo to Ninghai Lianghuang Mountain; it took us around one hour. We arrived at 10am, and there were no other visitors. We were quite happy about that, whole sight only for us! I saw the mountain and thought this will be a nice hike for the whole day. We were also prepared well, took some food and plenty of water. But when lady at the ticket counter informed that this time there is small stream of water and climb to the top takes only one hour, we felt a bit disappointed.

The area seemed big enough for at least 4 hour hike, but we had to follow marked trail and it was pretty short. On the map it showed more hiking options, and looked like you can make a circle; however this time it was just going to the top and back following same trail. It seemed like we visited during the wrong season. Apparently half of the trail was closed, and we got to see only part of it. There was a guesthouse and restaurant at the top, which was empty too.

It felt very peaceful and quite up there. If one looks to find a place to escape from crowd, daily routine, and tiring city life, Lianghuang Mountain could be a perfect place.  

As the hike to the top took only one hour, and waterfalls were not that impressive as imagined, we felt a bit disappointed in this scenic spot. It was probably not the season and there was not that much water. In general it was like a nice hike and half a day in the nature, however we were expecting more. It is not too different from other places around Ningbo, as there are so many mountains, waterfalls and hiking options. Right before Lianghuang Mountain we visited Xuedou Mountain, were we on contrary didn’t expect it to be such a great attraction, but it turned out to be better than imagined. As for Ninghai Lianghuang Mountain, we expected more than what we saw. 

After this short trip, we went back to Ningbo city. We were still considering maybe we should see something more around, that wouldn’t take too much time to visit, but couldn’t find anything suitable, so our trip ended there. Still it is a nice place to explore if you’re around.

Scenic area’s opening hours: 08:00-17:00

Entrance ticket: 50RMB

More sights in the area:

Ninghai has plenty of other mountains and scenic areas. One for example is the famous Zhedong Grand canyon. It is much more impressive and visit takes whole day. I recommend visiting it if you plan to be in Ninghai.