|
Yellow
Mountain (Mt. Huangshan), also known as Mount
Huangshan, is located in the southern part of Anhui
Province. It is undoubtedly China’s most celebrated
mountain for all its grandeur and beauty. In 1990
Yellow Mountain was declared a World Natural and
Cultural Heritage by
UNESCO
Heritage Committee.
Within an area of 154
square kilometers, the mountain offers a crowd of
peaks. 72 of them have names indicating the shapes
they resemble. Lotus, Brightness Apex and Celestial
Capital are the three major ones, all rising above
1,800 meters. The mountains are a body of granite,
often with vertical joints. When it is cloudy the
pinnacles loom in mists as if they were illusionary.
When the sun shines, they unfold in all their
majesty and splendor.
From ancient times Mt. Huang has been frequented by
tourists seeking their mystery and admiring their
scenery. They come to the conclusion that the
fantastic pines, the grotesque rocks, the sea of
clouds and the hot springs are the four major
attractions of the Yellow Mountains. As a matter of
fact there are marvels almost everywhere, especially
in scenic areas such as Wenquan (Hot Spring),
Yupinglou (Jade Screen Tower), Xihai (West Sea),
Beihai (North Sea), Yungusi (Cloud Valley Temple)
and Songgu'an (Pine Valley Nunnery).
Because of its peculiar
terrain, the Yellow Mountain’s climate is marked by
a vertical change, and the vertical distribution of
vegetation is also distinctive: plants on the
summit, on the middle levels and at the foot belong
to the frigid, temperate and subtropical zones
respectively. There are more than 1500 species of
plants, of which trees comprise one third. So the
Yellow Mountain occupy an important place in China's
botanical research. Here you will find century-old
pines, firs, ginkgoes, Chinese torreyas, Chinese
sweet gums, nanmus, camphor woods and the precious
Magua trees, remnants of the glacial era. The Yellow
Mountains abound in flowering plants; many of them
are rare ones, such as Goddess Flower, the Yellow
Mountains Azalea as well as camellia, plum, lily,
crape myrtle, orchid, Spring Heralding Flower and so
on. It has a rich store of medicinal herbs; more
than 300 kinds are found here; the notable ones
being glossy ganoderma ginseng, Chinese gold thread
rhizome and Chinese cinnamon. Maofeng tea of the
Yellow Mountains is well known at home and abroad.
Though looking fresh and young, Yellow Mountains
have a long history to which ancient books, poems
and paintings as well as carved inscriptions all
bear witness. Poetic phrases in handsome calligraphy
can be found in many spots on the mountain. They
have become part of the fascinating scene
themselves.
|
