SHIYAN -- Tourism recovers fast at Mount Wudang, one of China's four sacred Taoist mountains, in the first two months of the year after China downgraded its COVID-19 policy in early January.

The number of tourists capped at 200,000 a day in the scenic area. Just in the first two months, Wudang already neared its full capacity, receiving 1.1 million visitors drawn by the views, the history and the Taoist culture.

The scenic spot in Shiyan City of central China's Hubei Province is again seeing crowds trailing up steep steps, taking in the impressive natural views here.

But beyond that, many of them are in fact pilgrims of Taoism, one of China's oldest religions, with a philosophical way of looking at life still much relevant today.

"Tao" in Chinese means path or the way of the universe in the Taoist context. The underpinning idea is that all living things exist in harmony, everything is connected through energy or "qi", and nothing makes sense by itself.

As far as personal life is concerned, Taoism believes that while proactively improving oneself, one should cultivate one's self to rise above bodily needs and base desires, finding harmony with the world, and ultimately achieving spiritual immortality, which could offer a solution to find inner peace for those who are tired of the life in the fast lane of modern society.

"Taoism presupposes continuous self-improvement, virtue and responsibility as within the laws of nature. First there is self-improvement, virtue and responsibility, and then there can be tranquility and non-action. So Taoism is not simply about being passive or inactive. It is in fact proactive, but teaches us not to compete for power, for profit, not to steal credit," said Yang Lizhi, professor of the School of Humanities under Hubei University of Automotive Technology.

For a long time, Mount Wudang has been a haven for Taoists. Some of these buildings can be traced back to the 7th century. But it was about 600 years ago when the Ming Dynasty emperor Zhu Di set about expanding the complex of palaces and temples, and the mountain reached its apex as a Taoist mecca.