Site pittoresque du mont Tai – Porte Rouge

Hongmen — the Red Gate, also known in older sources as the First Heaven Gate — is the traditional starting point of the central imperial ascent route up Mount Tai, located at the foot of the mountain just north of Tai'an's old city. For most of the past thousand years, this is where the formal climb to the summit began, and for many climbers today it remains the most authentic starting point for a Mount Tai ascent on foot.

The name comes from a natural formation: the reddish cliffs on either side of the entrance suggest a gate, and the small Ming-dynasty gateway that now marks the start of the route incorporates that visual idea into a built stone arch. Beyond the gate, a paved stone path climbs steadily through a narrow forested valley, passing a sequence of memorial arches, small temples, and cliff inscriptions that set the ritual tone for the climb ahead. The lower section of the route is densely inscribed — every few hundred metres brings another stele, another carved poem, another marker of an imperial visit.

From Hongmen, the central route climbs past several small temples and pavilions, including the Scripture Rock inscriptions and the Five Pine Pavilion, before reaching the midway plateau of Zhongtianmen two to three hours later on foot. The path is almost entirely stone steps — thousands of them — and the gradient builds gradually rather than dramatically in this lower section. Many climbers find the Hongmen-to-Zhongtianmen stretch the most pleasant part of the entire route: shaded by old pines, well-paved, and rich in historical detail without the exhausting steepness of the upper mountain.

For foreign visitors planning a Mount Tai climb, the decision to start at Hongmen is a decision to engage with the mountain as a historical and cultural experience rather than as a pure outdoor hike. Allow two to three hours to reach Zhongtianmen from here, and another two to four to continue to the summit, depending on fitness and crowd conditions. Most foreign travelers find an early-morning start from Hongmen — ideally just after dawn — the most rewarding option, both for the cooler temperatures and for the chance to share the first section of the path with local pilgrims rather than with the large tour groups that arrive later in the day.