The Banished Immortal: Dionysian Freedom on the Yangtze Cliffs
To step upon the bluestone ramparts of Caishiji (采石矶) is to enter the final theater of China's most untamed poetic imagination. To the Western intellectual, Li Bai (Li Po, 701–762 AD) is familiar as an Eastern brother to Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Friedrich Nietzsche's celebration of the Dionysian spirit — an artist who defied emperor and court, seeking communion solely with wine, the moon, and wild rivers. But while Byron died fighting fever at Missolonghi, Li Bai spent his final months here on the muddy southern bank of the lower Yangtze, converting despair into cosmic transcendence.
In 757 AD, in the chaos following the An Lushan Rebellion, Li Bai made the disastrous mistake of joining the staff of Prince Yong (Li Lin), whose regional uprising was crushed as treason. Imprisoned at Jiujiang and condemned to exile in distant Yelang (modern Guizhou), the aging poet spent years walking down the Yangtze under guard until a general amnesty reached him at Baidicheng. Broken in health and impoverished, he took refuge in Dangtu with his kinsman Li Yangbing (李阳冰), the local magistrate and China's master of seal script calligraphy. Standing atop the cliffs today, listening to the churning current below, one senses the tragic weight of an empire's golden age drawing to a close.
花间一壶酒，独酌无相亲。举杯邀明月，对影成三人。月既不解饮，影徒随我身。暂伴月将影，行乐须及春。
Huā jiān yī hú jiǔ, dú zhuó wú xiāng qīn. Jǔ bēi yāo míng yuè, duì yǐng chéng sān rén. Yuè jì bù jiě yǐn, yǐng tú suí wǒ shēn. Zàn bàn yuè jiāng yǐng, xíng lè xū jí chūn.
“A pot of wine among the flowers, / I drink alone, no friend with me. / I raise my cup to invite the moon, / Facing my shadow, we become three. / The moon does not understand drinking, / My shadow only follows my body. / Yet for a moment I accompany moon and shadow; / Making merry must seize the spring.”
The 5.2-Kilometer Cliffside Pilgrimage: Step-by-Step Walking Trail
Caishiji is one of the 'Three Great Rocks of the Yangtze' (alongside Nanjing's Yanzi Rock and Zhenjiang's Beigu Rock). But while the other rocks are surrounded by sprawling urban skylines, Caishiji preserves dramatic forested promontories jutting directly into turbulent waters. Follow our tested morning route to experience its untamed literary aura before noon crowds arrive.
The coastal flagstone path between Taibai Tower and Moon Catching Terrace has sturdy stone railings, but morning river humidity can leave the limestone treads slippery. Use the stainless steel safety cables provided on steep ascents and wear shoes with sticky rubber soles.
07:30 AM — Entering South Gate & Ascending to Taibai Tower
Arrive at the park South Gate as the ticket counter opens at 07:30 AM. Walk along the lakeside boardwalk past Cuiluo Bay, where weeping willows touch the river eddies. Ascend the granite staircase beneath centuries-old camphor trees to Taibai Tower (太白楼). Rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty following classical Ming proportions, this three-tiered timber pavilion houses exquisite Ming and Qing stone steles, including stone rubbings of the preface penned by Li Yangbing for Li Bai's posthumous poetry compilation 'Caotang Ji' (草堂集序).
Step out onto the third-floor wooden balcony of Taibai Tower. Look downriver: long cargo barges cut white wakes through muddy waters, precisely framing the western silhouette of Niuzhu Mountain. The river breeze here carries an authentic Tang Dynasty chill.
08:45 AM — Moon Catching Terrace: Deconstructing Myth and Reality
Continue north along the coastal cliff path to Moon Catching Terrace (捉月台), a narrow limestone platform perched directly over a 40-meter vertical drop into the churning Yangtze. Here stands a Ming-dynasty stone balustrade marking the mythical site where Li Bai supposedly died: drunk under a full moon in November 762 AD, he leaned over his wooden skiff to embrace the golden reflection of the moon in the water, drowned, and ascended to the heavens on the back of a celestial whale.
Historical reality vs. Poetic truth: Historical records show Li Bai died of chronic chest illness (腐胁疾) at Li Yangbing's official residence in Dangtu. Yet why did Chinese civilization insist on the moon-leaping myth for twelve centuries? Because to consign the Banished Immortal to a sterile sickbed was an intolerable aesthetic insult. The legend is culture's loving tribute to absolute spiritual freedom.
09:30 AM — San Tai Ge Summit: The 360-Degree River Panorama
Conclude the cliffside trek by climbing to San Tai Ge (三台阁), the highest summit of Mount Cuiluo (height: 131m). From the five-story octagonal tower, gaze across the entire breadth of the Yangtze toward Mount Tianmen in the western haze. Below, the ancient river flows unceasingly toward the Pacific — the very water that carried Li Bai's youthful dreams out of Sichuan and bore his exiled bones back to the earth.
Mount Qingshan: Resting beside Xie Tiao Across Three Centuries
After walking the crags of Caishiji, take a 25-minute taxi southward to the foothills of Mount Qingshan (大青山). While Caishiji commemorates the roaring, mythical public persona of Li Bai, Mount Qingshan holds his private, quiet soul.
Throughout his turbulent life, Li Bai held a lifelong veneration for Southern Qi dynasty landscape poet Xie Tiao (谢朓), who had built a mountain hermitage on Mount Qingshan three centuries earlier. In his will, Li Bai pleaded: 'My heart has always rejoiced in Xie's Green Mountain; bury my bones by his side.' In 817 AD, fifty-five years after his death, his admirer Fan Chuanzheng relocated the master's humble earthen mound to its present resting place beneath ancient ginkgo trees. Free from commercial hawkers, this tranquil bamboo cemetery allows the contemplative traveler to lay a wild flower upon the stone altar and breathe the deep silence of Tang poetry.
绝壁临巨川，连峰势相向。乱石流洑间，回波自成浪。但惊群木秀，莫测精灵状。更听猿夜啼，忧心醉江上。
Jué bì lín jù chuān, lián fēng shì xiāng xiàng. Luàn shí liú fú jiān, huí bō zì chéng làng. Dàn jīng qún mù xiù, mò cè jīng líng zhuàng. Gèng tīng yuán yè tí, yōu xīn zuì jiāng shàng.
“Sheer cliffs overlook the mighty river; / Range upon range, the peaks face one another. / Tumbled stones amid the swirling undercurrent, / Backwash churning of itself into waves. / Startled only by the lush of massed trees, / I cannot fathom the shapes of the spirits here. / Listening further to gibbons wailing in the night, / My troubled heart lies drunken on the river.”
Field Logistics: Nanjing HSR Springboard & Mindful Planning
Accessibility for international independent travelers is remarkably straightforward. Board a high-speed bullet train from Nanjing South Station (南京南站) to Ma'anshan East Station (马鞍山东站) — travel time is just 18 minutes (approx. 15 RMB). From Ma'anshan East, licensed taxis reach the Caishiji South Gate in 20 minutes (approx. 35 RMB). Spend the morning (07:30–11:00 AM) exploring the riverside cliffs, enjoy a lunch of local Jiangxian river fish and Dangtu sesame cakes in the ancient town, and take a 25-minute taxi to Mount Qingshan cemetery in the early afternoon before catching an evening train back to Nanjing or Shanghai.
Quick Answers
Can Caishiji and Li Bai's Tomb be comfortably visited as a day trip from Shanghai?+
Yes, entirely practical. Take a 07:00 AM high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao to Nanjing South (60 mins), connect to the 18-minute train to Ma'anshan East, complete both literary sites by 04:00 PM, and return to Shanghai in time for dinner.
Is there English signage inside Caishiji Scenic Park and Mount Qingshan?+
Yes. Caishiji is a national 5A-level scenic area with standardized bilingual signs and English trail maps along all coastal boardwalks. Mount Qingshan has informative stone plaques with English historical summaries.
Why is Li Bai called the 'Banished Immortal' (Zhexian)?+
When senior Tang court statesman and poet He Zhizhang (贺知章) first read Li Bai's poem 'The Hard Road to Shu' in Chang'an in 742 AD, he gasped in amazement and proclaimed him an immortal banished from heaven down to earth for a mortal lifespan — a moniker Li Bai embraced with pride.
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Sources & Further Reading
- 李白墓园（全国重点文物保护单位、青山脚下、范传正元和十二年 817 迁葬青山、太白祠与宋碑） — 当涂县旅游（李白墓园）. wap.ly.ttdm.cn/landscape/18/libaimuyuan.html
- 当涂青山李白墓园简介（谢朓「山水都」、李白「宅近青山同谢朓」夙愿、《姑孰十咏》十咏亭） — 马鞍山旅游. m.wz008.cn/dangtuqingshanlibaimuyuanjianjie
- 安徽当涂李白墓的由来（投奔族叔当涂县令李阳冰、患腐胁疾逝、绝笔《临路歌》） — 我爱历史网. m.52lishi.com/article/35521.html
- 李白墓（白居易诗、采石矶原名牛渚矶、相传醉酒捉月溺死处、太白楼捉月亭、初葬龙山后迁青山） — 古诗词网. m.gushici99.com/shici/vOL.html
- 李白墓（采石江边李白坟、捉月骑鲸传说与衣冠冢、范传正《唐左拾遗翰林学士李公新墓碑》） — 2248 文学网. www.2248.wang/shiwen/9142
Historical facts, dates and figures in this guide are cross-checked against the primary and institutional sources listed below. Verse translations are credited to their published translators; where no verifiable published translation exists, the rendering is our own and marked as such.