Jiuhua Mountain is simultaneously a serious pilgrimage site and a major tourist destination — a combination that can make it both more and less than either. The fifty-odd active monasteries range from intimate cliff-face shrines to substantial complexes with hundreds of monks in residence; visiting them in the company of genuine pilgrims, who come to seek Dizang Bodhisattva's intercession for deceased family members, gives the mountain an emotional weight absent from more conventional scenic areas. The trails connecting the monasteries are the best way to move through the mountain, with the Tiantai Peak route being the most challenging and rewarding.