The Jade Spring Temple. [File photo]

Jade Spring Temple is located at the back of Mount Tai, in Dajinkou county.

The temple is about 20 km away from Tai'an city. It was first built in Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), thus it has the history of more than 1400 years. It was extended many times in Jin and Yuan dynasties and became prosperous in Ming and Qing dynasties where more than 100 monks were here at that time.

The most attractive are two huge ancient ginkgo trees which were said to be planted in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). The bigger one is 1.8 meters in diameter and 30 meters in height, which is the largest ginkgo in Tai'an area. To the north of the temple stands an ancient pine with a huge shade, thus named "One-acre Pine".

One of the ancient ginkgo trees at Jade Spring Temple. [Photo/mount-tai.com.cn]