Abstract: Ancient Chinese literati had deep feelings for mountains. It is their inner need and an important way to develop their poetic life, get rid of secularity and noise, relax body and mind, purify spirit, sublimate accomplishment and enjoy nature among mountains. Influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism heavily, ancient Chinese literati had deep cultural and aesthetic training. Therefore the recreation expressed their devotion into the nature, their pursuit of leisure life and their appreciation of the natural beauty. As a result, the recreation becomes a spiritual journey accompanied by pursuit of harmony between man and nature, man and themselves. Mountain recreation is not only an important part of ancient Chinese literati’s physical and spiritual world, but also endows the recreation with dense humanistic, cultural and aesthetic characteristics. Undoubtedly, this will bring us beneficial inspirations, deep cultural meanings and historical origins for the culture development of modern mountain tourism.