Huangshan Mountain
• Don’t miss the sunrise.
• Book hotel in advance if you plan to stay one night on the mountain.
• Wear warm clothes.
Listed as both a World Cultural and a Natural Heritage Sites in 1990
Location: Huangshan City, Anhui Province, east China
Best time to visit: Anytime
Huangshan Mountain is renowned for the best mountain-ous scenery in China. The complex geological history gave the mountain a landscape diversity of waterfalls, caves, lakes and hot springs spreading over an area of 15,400 hectares.
A striking feature of the mountainous landscape is its numerous granitic peaks, 77 of which exceed 1,000 meters in height, with the highest Lotus Peak reach-ing up to 1,864 meters. Their formation dates back 100 million years to the Mesozoic era as a result of crustal movements.
Botanical richness also adds to the charm - the mountain is home to a number of locally or nationally endemic plant species and one-third of China’s bryophytes and over half of its ferns. The vertebrate fauna com-prises 300 species including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes, with 13 under national protection. But it is the peaks emerging through a perpetual sea of clouds that are the signature scene of Huangshan Mountain, giving it a celestial charm.
In a legend dated from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Huangshan Mountain was described as the place where the long-sought elixir of immortality was discovered. Since then, it has attracted many visitors, hermits, poets and painters who wanted to eulogize its beauty, and as such the mountain has been playing an important role in the arts and literature of China. The numerous ancient gnarled trees, along with grotesquely-shaped rocks, inspired the renowned Shanshui (mountain and water) school of landscape painting. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), 64 temples were constructed on the mountain, making it an important place for temple architecture as well.
Huangshan Mountain was listed on both the World Cultural and Natural Heritage lists in 1990. With a buffer zone of 14,200 hectares, it is now protected under Chinese law as a national park.