The Yandang Mountains are a coastal range in Yueqing, south-eastern Zhejiang, carved from the remains of a Cretaceous volcanic caldera into cliffs, rock pinnacles and waterfalls such as the Dalongqiu. A UNESCO Global Geopark since 2005, they were admired by Song scholars and by the Ming traveller Xu Xiake, whose journal begins with them.
- UNESCO Global Geopark · 2005
- National scenic area · 1982
Key facts
Overview
Yandang is a landscape of verticals: rhyolite cliffs hundreds of metres high, free-standing columns, natural arches and narrow gorges with waterfalls dropping from their heads. The name — “Wild Goose Pond Mountains” — comes from a reed-fringed lake near the summit where, in legend, migrating geese rested.
The scenic area is divided into sections, of which Lingfeng, Lingyan and Dalongqiu are the classic “three wonders”. Temples and hermitages tucked into caves and under overhangs recall the Buddhist monks who opened the mountains in the Tang and Song dynasties.
How the landscape formed
About 120 million years ago, in the Cretaceous, a volcano here erupted repeatedly and then collapsed into its emptied magma chamber, forming a caldera. The rhyolitic lavas and welded tuffs that filled it have since been uplifted and cut by streams along vertical joints, leaving the pinnacles, walls and gorges seen today. Geologists regard Yandang as a textbook example of an eroded rhyolitic caldera, and it is the reason for its geopark status. The Song polymath Shen Kuo already argued in his Dream Pool Essays that its peaks were shaped by running water.
Highlights
Lingfeng
灵峰
A valley of rock formations famous for its night view, when the silhouettes are read as figures and animals.
Lingyan
灵岩
Cliffs enclosing Lingyan Temple, where acrobats perform on ropes strung between the peaks.
Dalongqiu Waterfall
大龙湫
A slender fall of close to 200 metres, among the highest single-drop waterfalls in China; it thins to spray in dry weather.
Joined Palms Peak
合掌峰
Two rock walls leaning together like hands in prayer, with the Guanyin Cave temple built inside the cleft.
Wild Goose Lake
雁湖
The summit lake and marsh that gave the mountains their name.
Plants and wildlife
The mountains lie in the subtropical monsoon zone near the sea and are covered with evergreen broadleaf forest, bamboo and tea on the lower slopes. Heavy rainfall feeds the waterfalls, which are fullest in the plum-rain season of early summer.
Plants
Yandang Maofeng tea
雁荡毛峰
A green tea grown on the misty slopes, historically offered as tribute.
Bamboo groves
竹林
Moso bamboo covers many valley floors below the cliffs.
Wildlife
Rhesus macaques
猕猴
Troops live in the forested gorges away from the main paths.
Culture and legend
Buddhist monks from the Tang onward built temples here, and in the Song dynasty Yandang was listed among the famous mountains of the south-east. Scholars and painters came to record its peaks, and cliff inscriptions accumulated in the gorges. Xu Xiake visited in 1613 and again in 1632; his account of Yandang is one of the opening entries of his celebrated travel diaries.
Guanyin Cave
观音洞
A multi-storey Buddhist temple built inside the cleft of Joined Palms Peak.
Lingyan Temple
灵岩寺
A monastery founded in the Song dynasty at the foot of the Lingyan cliffs.
History
c. 120 million years ago
Caldera forms
Volcanic eruption and collapse create the rocks from which the mountains are carved.
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Buddhist monks settle
Temples and hermitages open the mountains to visitors.
11th century
Shen Kuo describes Yandang
His Dream Pool Essays explain the peaks as the work of water erosion, an early geological observation.
1613
Xu Xiake's first visit
The Ming traveller's diary entry makes Yandang part of the classic itinerary of Chinese travel writing.
1982
National scenic area
Listed among the first national key scenic areas.
2005
UNESCO Global Geopark
Recognised for its record of a Cretaceous rhyolitic caldera.
Through the seasons
Spring
Fresh green and tea-picking on the lower slopes; frequent mist softens the peaks.
Summer
The waterfalls are at their fullest in the plum-rain season of June; typhoons can bring heavy rain and closures.
Autumn
Clear air and settled weather, the best season for walking and for the night view at Lingfeng.
Winter
Mild near the coast but damp; the Dalongqiu may shrink to a thread of water.
Routes and ways in
The three wonders
Lingfeng, Lingyan and Dalongqiu can each be walked in a few hours on paved paths; together they make one or two full days.
Lingfeng by night
A guided evening walk through Lingfeng valley to see the peaks in silhouette.
Ridge walk to Wild Goose Lake
A steeper climb to the summit plateau and the lake, with wide views over the peaks to the sea.
Practical notes
- The scenic area lies in Yueqing county-level city, part of Wenzhou, and has its own railway station on the coastal line.
- The sections are spread out and linked by road; allow at least two days to see the main areas.
- Paths are steep and slippery after rain; waterfalls are best after wet weather.
Cities to start from
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Yandangshan UNESCO Global Geopark — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Wenzhou Municipal People's Government — Wenzhou Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Yueqing Municipal People's Government — Yueqing Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More mountains and nature in Zhejiang
- Sacred mountainMount Putuo普陀山Guanyin's island in the Zhoushan archipelago
- LakeQiandao Lake千岛湖A reservoir of a thousand islands over drowned towns
- Nature reserve · 1,506 mTianmu Mountains天目山Giant cryptomerias, wild ginkgo and the mountain that named tenmoku
- LakeWest Lake西湖The shaped lake that set the pattern for Chinese landscape design
- LakeLake Tai太湖The great lake at the heart of the Yangtze Delta
Related
Province
Zhejiang →
Zhejiang is a coastal province south of Shanghai whose northern plain belongs to the lower-Yangtze Jiangnan region and whose south is mountainous and…
City · Zhejiang
Wenzhou →
Wenzhou is a prefecture-level city on the coast of southern Zhejiang at the mouth of the Ou River. Isolated by mountains for most of its history, it…
Philosophy
Chinese Buddhism →
Dynasty
Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) →
The Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) was the Chinese imperial dynasty founded by the general Zhao Kuangyin that reunified China after the Five Dynasties…