Purple-Gold Mountain or Zijin Mountain (zǐ jīn shān 紫金山) also known as Bell Mountain (zhōng shān 钟山) from Han dynasty (hàn dài 汉代), is located on the eastern suburb of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 447.1 m (1467 ft) high, with the lowest point 30 m (98 ft). The terrain of the Zijin Mountain is such a of great strategic importance that people used the words “like a coiling dragon and crouching tiger” (hǔ jù lóng pán 虎踞龙盘) to describe its strategical location and difficult access.

The coiling dragon refers to the Purple-Gold Mountain. The lofty mountain rises abruptly out of the ground and it looks just like a giant dragon twisting and lying on the east side of the city, which is known as Zhong Fu Long Pan (zhōng fù lóng pán 钟阜龙盘). The purple shale (yè yán 页岩) exposed on the hillside and peaks are always found reflecting the golden sunlight, hence it renamed "Purple Gold Mountain" in eastern Jin Dynasty (dōng jìn 东晋). The mountain extends 5 kilometres across from east to west and 3 kilometres from north to south.

With an area about 20 square kilometer (4,900 acres), Purple-Gold Mountain is a mountain related to many historical events of both ancient and modern China. More than 200 heritage and scenic tourist sites are located in or around the mountain, among which include three national historical sites, nine provincial historical sites, and 33 prefectural historical sites. Sun Yat-sen mausoleum (sūn zhōng shān líng mù 孙中山陵墓) was built in the southern slope in 1926. Ming Xiao Mausoleum (míng xiào líng 明孝陵) is on the west while the Linggu Temple (líng gǔ sì 灵谷寺) on the east and also other places of interest, among which situated the Zijin Mountain Astronomical Observatory (zǐ jīn shān tiān wén tái 紫金山天文台).

 The green ocean

As early as the times of Six Dynasties (222--589, liù cháo shí qī 六朝时期), many temples and nunneries have been built there and it has gradually become a scenic spot since then. Wang anshi (wáng ān shí 王安石), the famous politician as well as litterateur in Northern Song dynasty (běi song 北宋) spent his old age here in happiness and also left several poems about the Zijin Mountain. He has once said in his poem that he would never be tired of the scenery of the mountain and would stay there as long as he could. This beautiful scenery has been witness to the ups and downs in the life of the mountain and the city. Today, going down through the road until the foot of the Purple-Gold Mountain, you can check out the boulevard composed of two lines of thick plane trees. Even in the summer when the sun hang suspended in the cloudless sky, it is still very difficult for the light to penetrate through the dense leaves of the bushy forest. You can enjoy a great amount of woods and bamboo forests, among which scattered many places of historic interest and scenic beauty.

Linggu Temple is situated in the eastern foot of the Purple-Gold Mountain where towering pines everywhere and sceneries are extremely beautiful. The temple was built in Ming and had once an enormous scale at earlier times. Now the Linggu Temple is barely are part of Longwang Palace (lóng wáng diàn 龙王殿) of the ancient temple. Wuliang Palace (also known as the palace without any beam wú liàng diàn 无量殿; wú liáng diàn 无梁殿) is an architecture well known both in China and abroad. The palace was constructed without any piece of wood but bricks and stones from the foundation to the roof.

Surly, this mountain is a getaway to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.