Mount Luofu is a forested granite massif in Boluo county, Huizhou, rising to 1,296 metres at Feiyun Ding. It is one of the principal Daoist mountains of south China, counted among the ten great grotto-heavens, and is closely associated with the fourth-century alchemist and physician Ge Hong, whose medical writings inspired the discovery of artemisinin.
Key facts
- Highest point
- Feiyun Ding, 1,296 m
- Tradition
- Daoism; seventh great grotto-heaven
- Associated figure
- Ge Hong (c. 283–343)
- Location
- Boluo county, Huizhou, Guangdong
Overview
Luofu rises abruptly from the lowlands north of the East river, east of Guangzhou. Its name joins two mountains: Luo Shan, the mountain proper, and Fu Shan, a “floating mountain” that in legend drifted across the sea from the east and fused with it. Tradition counts more than four hundred peaks, waterfalls and springs on its slopes.
For Daoists it is the seventh of the ten great grotto-heavens (洞天), the hidden realms of the immortals, and it has been a place of retreat and alchemy since the fourth century. Buddhist monasteries also stood here, and the mountain entered poetry through Su Shi, who lived in exile at Huizhou and praised its lychees.
How the landscape formed
The massif is built mainly of granite intruded in the Mesozoic and exposed by uplift and erosion. The rock weathers into rounded summits and boulder-strewn slopes, and streams cut steep valleys with waterfalls and pools on the flanks. Its height above the delta lowlands brings more rain and cloud than the surrounding country, and its slopes are thickly forested.
Highlights
Feiyun Peak
飞云顶
The 1,296-metre summit, with views over the East river plain on clear days.
Chongxu Temple
冲虚古观
The principal Daoist temple of the mountain, on the site where Ge Hong is said to have built his hermitage.
Herb-Washing Pool
洗药池
A pool beside Chongxu Temple where, in tradition, Ge Hong washed his medicinal herbs.
Huanglong Temple
黄龙观
A Daoist temple in a valley on the mountain, rebuilt in modern times.
Huashou Temple
华首古寺
A Buddhist monastery on the lower slopes, founded in the Tang dynasty.
Baishuimen Waterfall
白水门瀑布
One of the larger falls on the flanks of the massif.
Plants and wildlife
Luofu's forests are south subtropical evergreen broadleaf woods, and the mountain has long been known for medicinal plants — it is sometimes called the “treasure house of Lingnan herbs”. Lingnan medicine and the Luofu Shan herbal tradition continue in the area.
Plants
Medicinal herbs
中草药
Many hundreds of plants used in Chinese medicine grow on the mountain.
Lychee
荔枝
Grown in orchards around the foot of the mountain, the fruit Su Shi celebrated.
Wildlife
Silver pheasant
白鹇
A bird of the forest undergrowth on the upper slopes.
Culture and legend
Ge Hong (c. 283–343), the author of the Baopuzi, came to Luofu late in life to refine elixirs, and it was here that his wife Bao Gu, remembered as a pioneer of moxibustion, practised medicine. His handbook of emergency prescriptions, the Zhouhou Beiji Fang (肘后备急方), describes soaking qinghao in water and taking the juice against fevers — the passage that led Tu Youyou to extract artemisinin in the 1970s, work recognised with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. Luofu also has a strand of Lingnan Buddhism, and in the Song dynasty Su Shi, exiled to Huizhou, wrote of the mountain and its lychees.
罗浮山下四时春，卢橘杨梅次第新。日啖荔枝三百颗，不辞长作岭南人。Luófú shān xià sì shí chūn, lújú yángméi cìdì xīn. Rì dàn lìzhī sānbǎi kē, bù cí cháng zuò Lǐngnán rén.
“Below Mount Luofu it is spring all year; loquats and bayberries ripen one after another. If I could eat three hundred lychees a day, I would not mind living in Lingnan for ever.”
— Su Shi, “Eating Lychees” (食荔枝), c. 1095
Ge Hong
葛洪
Daoist, alchemist and physician of the Eastern Jin, author of the Baopuzi and of an early handbook of emergency medicine.
Bao Gu
鲍姑
Ge Hong's wife, venerated in Guangdong as a healer and early practitioner of moxibustion.
Grotto-heavens and blessed lands
洞天福地
The Daoist system of sacred mountains and hidden realms, in which Luofu ranks seventh of the ten great grotto-heavens.
History
4th century
Ge Hong settles on Luofu
The alchemist's retreat makes the mountain a centre of southern Daoism.
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Temples and monasteries multiply
Luofu is ranked among the grotto-heavens and receives imperial recognition.
1094–1097
Su Shi in exile at Huizhou
His poems make the mountain and its lychees famous across China.
1970s
Artemisinin discovered
Tu Youyou's team draws on Ge Hong's recipe to extract the antimalarial compound.
Through the seasons
Spring
Warm and humid, with mist on the peaks and waterfalls filling with the rains.
Summer
Hot and wet, with lychees ripening in the orchards below the mountain in June and July.
Autumn
Dry and clear, the most comfortable season for the climb to Feiyun Ding.
Winter
Mild in the valleys and cool on the summit; clear days give long views across the delta.
Routes and ways in
Chongxu Temple and the lower valleys
An easy walk from the foot of the mountain to the temples and pools associated with Ge Hong.
Ascent of Feiyun Ding
A long stepped climb through forest to the summit, or a cable car part of the way; a full day on foot there and back.
Practical notes
- Luofu lies in Boluo county, Huizhou, within reach of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan, and is busy at weekends.
- The temples are active; dress modestly and follow their rules on incense and photography.
- The summit is cooler and often in cloud; carry water and a rain layer in the wet season.
Cities to start from
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Huizhou Municipal People's Government — Huizhou Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Tu Youyou — Nobel Lecture: Artemisinin — The Nobel Foundation (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Guangdong Provincial People's Government — Guangdong Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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