History of Mountain Huangshan

Location

The YellowMountain area lies in AnhuiProvince, Eastern China, about 300 km (200 miles) west of Hangzhou and 500 km (300 miles) southwest of Shanghai. The scenic area is about 50 km (30 miles) north of HuangshanCity.

History

The YellowMountains or Huangshan (Huang means 'yellow' and shan means 'mountain(s)') are not so called because the mountains are yellow, but because it was named after the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) in 747 AD. After that Huangshan began its ascent to fame. Many Buddhist temples have been built there and, more recently, it has become a major tourist attraction, because of its scenic qualities.

It is said that Huangshan is the place where the Yellow Emperor, the mythical ancestor of the Chinese, lived, refined precious medicines and became a supernatural being. Xu Xiake, a noted Chinese geologist in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), who visited the Yellow Mountains twice, left his praise in this quote: "You don t need to see any more mountains after seeing 'the Five Mountains', and you don't need to see the other four mountains after seeing Huangshan".

On November 8, 1982, Huangshan was ratified into the list of Key National-Level Scenic Spots by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. In 1990, the YellowMountains were added to the list of World Natural Heritage Sites by UNESCO. It is now protected as a treasure for all mankind to enjoy for all time.