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Huang Shan or Yellow Mountain in Anhui, China.
The Huang Shan (Chinese:
黄山; Hanyu Pinyin:
Huáng Shān,
literally Yellow Mountain) is a
mountain
range in southern
Anhui
province in eastern
China. The area
is very famous for its scenic beauty, which lies in the peculiar shapes of the
granite peaks, in the weather-shaped
Huangshan Pine trees, and in views of the clouds from above. The area also
has hot springs and natural pools. The Huang Shan are a frequent subject of
traditional
Chinese paintings and literature. Today, they are a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site and one of China's most popular tourist destinations.
The Huang Shan mountain range comprises many peaks, 77 of which exceed 1,000
m in altitude.
The three tallest peaks are Lotus Peak (Lian Hua Feng, 1,864 m),
Bright Summit Peak (Guang Ming Ding, 1,840 m) and Celestial Peak (Tian
Du Feng, literally Capital of Heaven Peak, 1,829 m). The World Heritage
Site covers a core area of 154 square kilometres and a buffer zone of 142 square
kilometres.
The mountains were formed in the
Mesozoic,
about 100 million years ago, when an ancient sea disappeared due to uplift.
Later, in the
Quaternary,
the landscape was shaped by the influence of
glaciers. In
many cases, stone pillar forests were formed.
Since the
Qin
Dynasty, the Huang Shan had been known as the Yi Shan, they got their
present name in 747AD,
when the poet Li Po
referred to them by this name in his writing.
The vegetation of the area depends on altitude: Below 1,100
m, moist forest
can be found; deciduous forest stretches from 1,100 m up to the tree line at
1,800 m; above that the vegetation consists of alpine grass-lands. The area has
diverse flora, where one-third of China's
bryophyte
families and more than half of its
fern families are
represented.
Because the mountain tops are often above cloud level, they offer views of
the clouds from above and interesting light-effects. The Sea of Clouds (Chinese:
雲海, Pinyin: Yun
Hai) and
Buddha's Light (Chinese:
佛光 Pinyin: Fo Guang) are famous phenomena which attract many tourists. On
average, the Buddha's Light only appears a couple of times in a month.
The hot springs of the area are located at the foot of the Purple Cloud
Peak. the water retains a temperature of 45 °C
all year. Most natural pools are concentrated in the Songgu Area. Some
particularly well-known water bodies in the area are the Old Dragon Pool
(Lao Long Tan), the Green Dragon Pool (Qing Long Tan), the Black
Dragon Pool (Wu Long Tan), the White Dragon Pool (Bai Long Tan), and
the Jadeite Pond.
Mao Feng ("Fur Peak") is a famous
green tea
from the Huang Shan area, it is named for the downy tips of the tea leaves.
The Huang Shan has been a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site since
1990 for its
exceptional natural beauty and its role as a habitat for rare and threatened
species. (By Wikipedia)
Huangshan City, also known as Tunxi, features the Lao Jie, or Old Street,
which is 1.5 km long. It has been reconstructed in the Ming and Qing Dynasty
Styles and is lined with souvenir stands, antique stores, tea shops and
restaurants.
Photos of Huang Shan, Anhui, April 2006:
These pictures have been taken with a Sony DSC-H1 digital camera with 5.1
Megapixels and a 36 - 432 mm optical zoom. They average around 1-2 MB per
picture, and you may copy, print, distribute and share them as you wish.
Photos of Daniel on Huang Shan, Anhui
Province, China, April 2006.
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