China's Mountains and Natural Wonders
China's landscapes run from the highest mountains on Earth to tropical coasts: sacred Buddhist and Daoist mountains, glacier-fed lakes, karst towers, deserts, grasslands and national parks. Each profile explains how the landscape formed, what lives there, its culture and legends, the seasons and the ways in.
Mountains
Sacred mountain · Mountain · Mountain range · Glacier
- Sacred mountain · 2,570 mMount Fanjing梵净山Maitreya's mountain and an island of ancient forest
- GlacierHailuogou Glacier海螺沟A glacier on Gongga's eastern flank that ends in forest
- Mountain · 5,596 mJade Dragon Snow Mountain玉龙雪山The glaciated massif above Lijiang, sacred to the Naxi
- MountainMount Jinfo金佛山A karst table mountain in the Dalou range
- Sacred mountain · 6,740 mMeili Snow Mountains (Kawagebo)梅里雪山Kawagebo, Yunnan's highest and unclimbed sacred peak
- Sacred mountain · 3,099 mMount Emei峨眉山Samantabhadra's mountain above the sea of clouds
- Mountain · 8,848.86 mMount Everest (Qomolangma)珠穆朗玛峰The highest mountain on Earth, seen from its northern side
- Mountain · 7,556 mMount Gongga (Minya Konka)贡嘎山The highest peak of Sichuan and the eastern Tibetan Plateau's rim
- Sacred mountainMount Kailash (Kang Rinpoche)冈仁波齐The sacred mountain of four religions in western Tibet
- Sacred mountainMount Qingcheng青城山The secluded green mountain where Daoism took root
- Mountain · 6,250 mMount Siguniang四姑娘山Four snow peaks above the valleys of the Qionglai range
National parks and reserves
National park · Nature reserve · Forest
- ForestChishui Danxia赤水丹霞Red sandstone gorges, waterfalls and tree-fern forest
- Nature reserve · 6,032 mDaocheng Yading稻城亚丁Three sacred snow peaks of the Tibetan borderlands
- National parkGiant Panda National Park大熊猫国家公园One park for the panda's mountains across three provinces
- Nature reserve · 5,588 mHuanglong黄龙Terraced travertine pools below the snows of Xuebaoding
- Nature reserve · 4,752 mJiuzhaigou九寨沟Turquoise lakes and travertine falls in the Minshan mountains
- National parkPotatso (Pudacuo) National Park普达措国家公园Alpine lakes, meadows and fir forest east of Shangri-La
- ForestXishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest西双版纳热带雨林China's largest tropical rainforest, home of wild Asian elephants
Lakes, rivers and gorges
Lake · River · Gorge · Waterfall · Wetland · Valley
- Lake · 4,122 mErhai Lake and Cangshan洱海The highland lake and nineteen-peak range of the Bai homeland
- WaterfallHuangguoshu Waterfall黄果树瀑布The great fall of the Baishui River in Guizhou's karst
- Lake · 4,718 mNamtso纳木错The “heavenly lake” below the Nyenchen Tanglha range
- GorgeThree Gorges of the Yangtze长江三峡Qutang, Wu and Xiling: the Yangtze's passage through the mountains
- GorgeTiger Leaping Gorge虎跳峡The Jinsha river between two snow mountains
- Lake · 4,441 mYamdrok Lake羊卓雍错The turquoise, scorpion-shaped holy lake south of Lhasa
- Gorge · 7,782 mYarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon雅鲁藏布大峡谷The great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo around Namcha Barwa
Karst and stone forests
Karst landscape
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