Mount Tai is located just north of the city of Tai'an and to the south of the provincial capital Jinan. It extends from 150 to 1,545 meters above sea level and covers an area of 426 square kilometers at its base. The Jade Emperor Peak is 1532.7 meters above the sea level and located at 36° 16′N and 117° 6′E.

 

It is known as the "First of the Five Sacred Mountains", all situated on the Central Plains of the country. Its reputation comes mostly from its cultural position. According to historical records, Mount Taishan became a sacred place haunted by emperors to offer sacrifices and meditate in the Zhou Dynasty over 1,000 years before the Christian era. A total of 72 emperors were recorded as visiting it. Men of letters also came to acquire inspiration, to compose poems, write essays, paint and take pictures. Hence, a great many cultural relics were left on the mountain.

 

Mount Tai is a tilted fault-block mountain with height increasing from the north to the south. It is the oldest example of a paleo-metamorphic formation from the Cambrian Period in eastern China. Known as the Taishan Complex, this formation contains magnetized, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock as well as intrusions of other origins during the Archean Era. Mount Tai lies in the zone of oriental deciduous forest; about 80% of its area is covered with vegetation. The flora is known to comprise almost 1,000 species. Some of the trees in the area are very old and have cultural significance, such as the Han Dynasty Cypresses, which were planted by the Emperor Wu Di, the Tang Chinese Scholar tree (about 2,100 years old), the Welcoming-Guest Pine (500 years old) and the Fifth-Rank Pine, which was named originally by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, but was replanted about 250 years ago.