At the foot of Longshan, beside the quiet waters of Jingyue Lake, stands the Yuanyou Palace. This imperial Taoist temple, enclosed by a 410-meter red perimeter wall, spans 15,000 square meters of sacred ground. Its origin rests on an imperial dream. In 1539, the Jiajing Emperor visited his birthplace in Zhongxiang. He ordered the expansion of an older Yuan Dynasty temple, renaming it to honor the Taoist priest Yuanyou. Years earlier, the emperor's father, Zhu Youtuan, dreamed of this very priest entering the inner palace at the exact moment of the future emperor's birth. This dream fostered the belief that the emperor was the priest's reincarnation.

Construction began in 1540 and concluded in 1553. Visitors entering the southern boundary meet the Glazed Qionghua Screen Wall. Its green glazed tiles catch the morning light, displaying carved snowball flowers that symbolize imperial longevity. Beyond lies the main gate, where visitors can touch the cool white marble arches. Above, a stone plaque bears the regular script of Grand Secretary Yan Song, his brushstrokes preserved in stone. Inside, the resonant toll of the Fortune Bell once echoed from the tower, standing in quiet symmetry with the drum tower.

The heart of the complex is the Yuanyou Hall, later named the Wanshou Palace. It measures 32.80 meters wide and 15.70 meters deep. The scent of red lacquer lingers on the pillars and lattice doors. Overhead, the ceiling beams display spiral Xuanzi paintings in rich pigments. Outside, a carved cloud-dragon Danbi stone ramp splits the elevated platform, bordered by white marble balustrades.

The palace survived centuries of upheaval. War fires destroyed the main hall in 1643. A determined Taoist priest, Chen Zhen-yi, raised private funds to rebuild it between 1657 and 1665. Fire claimed the 33-meter-high Sandong Pavilion in 1893, and Japanese forces occupied the grounds in 1939. Today, the restored palace stands as a quiet witness to the Ming court's spiritual ambitions, its stones carrying the marks of imperial devotion, wartime survival, and community restoration.