Liupan Mountain

The Liupan Mountain, known as Longshan, extends for 200 or so kilometres across Ningxia, Gansu and Shanxi, with its major peak, Mt. Migang, at an altitude of 2,942 metres. Precipitation in the area is abundant owing to the fact that warm and moist currents from the southeast tend to turn to clouds and rain upon meeting the craggy body of the Liupan Mountain at right angles. Plentiful rainfalls bring life to the mountain and the Loess Plateau, turning it into a green isle on a cobweb of arid gullies and ravines. The mountain is the cradle of the Jinghe, Qingshui and Hulu rivers.

The Liupan Mountain looks graceful in a stupendous way. The forests that cover the mountain heap up thick piles of foliage into the sky, providing a natural habitat for 788 varieties of medium-grade and higher plants, 200 or so species of animals and more than 90 kinds of birds. The mountain is another national forest and wildlife nature reserve under due state protection.

The ocean of clouds is a unique attraction of the Liupan Mountain, where they now disperse, now accumulate in a scudding hurry according to changes in topography and season, conjuring up a myriad of spectacular views. Spectacular is also a proper word for the mountain’s other attractions, the Old Dragon Pool, Lotus Garden, Rogue Gully, Swing Stand, and so on.