Mount Huangshan

Location: City of Huangshan, Anhui Province

Date of Inscription: 1990

Criteria: N (iii) (iv) C (ii)

On Huangshan Mountain, in southern Anhui Province, there are three towering peaks: Lianhua (Lotus Flower), Tiandu (Heavenly Capital), and Guangmingding (Brightness Top). The area of the three peaks was formerly believed to be the Heavenly Capital, where the Lord of Heaven lived. During the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.), the mountain was called Yishan (Black Mountain) because all of its cliffs were black.

In June, 747, Tang Dynasty emperor Xuan Zong, a practitioner of Taoism, changed the name of the mountain to Huangshan because a Tang Dynasty book says that Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor) made his pills of immortality there. It took Huang Di 480 years to finish the pills, and after taking seven of them, he attained immortality and flew to heaven.

Huangshan Mountain has long been praised as the No.1 Mountain of Wonders on the Globe, the Magic Mountain, and a Paradise on Earth. It is gifted with all the natural charms found on other mountains in China. It is as imposing as Mount Taishan and as steep as Mount Huashan. It has the same seas of clouds as Mount Hengshan, a thundering waterfall like that of Mount Lushan, the coolness and quietness of Mount Emei, and rocks as spectacular as those of Mount Yandang. Marvelous, imposing, fascinating, and dangerously steep, it has distinctly shaped, jade-black peaks, and the top is enshrouded in mist and clouds all year round. The odd-shaped pines, spectacular rocks, seas of clouds, and hot springs are famous as the Four Wonders of Huangshan.