An ancient sentinel watching over the lush valleys below (not to mention the Wudang reservoir) from its cliff-side perch, Nanyan Temple is Wudang Shan's flagship attraction and is easily its most photographed.

The temple stands at the trailhead leading to Golden Top on Tianzhu Peak, where you'll find the Zhenwu Shrine and the All Gods Temple. From the Nanyang Tourist Center, where you can eat, sleep and buy souvenirs, including ridiculously cheap Chinese and Samurai swords, the path to the temple heads right. Heading left gets you started on the arduous, three-hour stair climb to Tianzhu Peak

The temple itself is just ten minutes away. You'll encounter a gate and a pavilion housing a large tortoise sculpture as well as a holy, 750-year old Gingko tree on the way there.

Once in the temple there are several areas to take in. Through the threshold and to the left is a stand with a metallic bowl whose resonance agitates the water when you rub its handles. Further on to the left is the tea ceremony room where smiling, young female attendants serve you free samples of tea.

Among the teas you can sample are gua mei cha, hong cha, pu er cha, ren sen cha, lu cha, and dao cha. Dao cha is an oolong tea/ginseng combo that comes in little nibblets shaped not unlike dry catfood. It bears an almost fruity, lightly sweet flavor and peps you up with a little ginseng kick besides. Gua mei cha is rose tea, hong cha black tea, pu er cha a laxative tea, while ren sen and lu cha are both green teas.

From the main courtyard, go through the threshold to the right from the main courtyard and you'll come across Dragon Head Rock, a holy-incense holder whose powers of fortune helped one man in his quest for a political appointment, only to claim the life of same man's mother.

While attempting to increase her son's fortune by placing incense in the dragon head's snout, she slipped and plummeted hundreds of feet to her death. Monks still perform the ritual, but are outfitted with safety harnesses in case the dragon feels similarly disinclined to grant them their wishes.