About Huangshan

Huangshan Facts

Where is the Mt.Huangshan?

Mount Huangshan in southern Anhui province is a world famous scenic resort. It is located at the center of the ancient Huizhou area ,which encompasses today's Mount Huangshan District, Shexian, Xiuning, and Yixian counties. It serves as the demarcation point for the water systems of the Yangtze and Qiantang rivers: the rivers north of the mountain empty into the Yangtze through the Qingyi River, and those south of it pour into the Qiantang via the Xin'an River. The moutain streches for 40 kilometers from south to north, and 30kilometers from east to west. IT totals 1,200 square kilometers, with the best tourist sights lying across an area of 154 square kilometers. In 1990 Mount Huangshan was approved by UNESCO as a world cultural and nutural heritage site, and it was selected a world ecopark in 2004.
 

Why go to Mt.Huangshan?
Wu yue is the  collective name given to China’s most important mountains, namely Mt. Taishan in Shandong Province, Mt. Huashan in Shaanxi Province, Mt. Hengshan in Shanxi Province, Mt. Songshan in Henan Province and Mt. Hengshan in Hunan Province. It is said that you won’t want to visit any other mountains after seeing wu yue but you won’t wish to see even wu yue after returning from Mt. Huangshan. This saying may give you some idea of the beauty and uniqueness of Mt. Huangshan. Together with the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Great Wall, Mt. Huangshan has become one of the great symbols of China.
 

Mt. Huangshan can boast not only of its magnificence but also its abundant resources and great variety of zoological species, for which it has been listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site.

 Stories about its name
There are several stories on how the mountain got its name. The best known is the one about how the Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Longji(712-756)came to name it Mount Huangshan. The mountain was originally called Yishan becuase the granite rocks that compose it are of dark color. According to folklore, it was the site where the mythic Yellow Emperor, the forefather of the Chinese people, collected herbs, made elixirs, bathed into heaven on the back of a dragon. Fascinated by this tale, Emperor Li Longji gave the order on the seventeenth day of the sixth lunar month in 747 to rename the mountain "Huangshan." So it has been called till today. Many tourist spots in the mountain are related to the Yellow Emperor, such as Xuanyuan (another name for Yellow Emperor) Peak, Huangdi Origin, Elixir Making Stage, Herb Washing River, Herb Mortar, and the Elixir Well. But some scholars dispute this story, as the name "Mount Huangshan" is metioned as early as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) in the book Biographies of the Many Fairies. In any case, this is just a story, and may not necessarily be based on historical facts.

Praised in history
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.

Thousands of feet high towers the Yellow Mountains,
With its thirty-two magnificent peaks,
Blooming like golden lotus flowers,
Amidst red crags and rock columns.

Li Bai was not the only poet who sang in its praise, Tang poets Jia Dao(779-843) and Du Xunhe ( 846- 097) also came here and wrote poems. In the succeeding dynasties people kept coming and giving expression to their admiration in poetry.

Natural paradise for animals and plants
The Yellow Mountains occupy an important place in China's botanical research. Here you will find century-old pines, firs ginkgoes, 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 Herald Ina Flower and so on. Maofeng tea of the Yellow Mountains is well known at home and abroad.

The Yellow Mountains also provide the natural habitat for a wide variety of fauna. Among the animals there are monkeys, goats, deer and David's deer. There are rare birds such as the red - billed leiothrix, the silver pheasant, the octave-tone bird and the oriole, all good singers.

Huangshan Torist Map

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