武陵源

Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Lnterest Area

Wulingyuan as a scenic area stretches over 264 sq km with an outlying cushion belt of 126.8 sq km which protects it.Its arenaceous quartz sand stone peaks are rare sights.You find wooded peaks in grotesque shape.The five unmatched beauties of Wulingyuan are:exotic peaks, queer-looking stones, deep and secluded ravines, beautiful. waters and karst caves. There are dense forests,colorful springs and streams and changing mist and cloud. The simple rustic scenery constitutes a stereoscopic,long picture scroIl, which impresses all visitors. Wulingyuan is a world natural heritage site with natural scientinc value as well as virgin,wild aesthetic value.

Grand Scenery and Majestic Strage Peaks
The quartz sand.stone peaks are incomparable,ineplaceable
and inseparable as they present themselves as out standing
spectacles.There are more than 3,000 stone peaks.As you
stand on the high platform of the Tianzishan(Son of Heaven
Peak)or Huangshizhai(Ye1low Stone Village)you'll find
densely wooded peaks,some high and some low,fantastic
or grotesque,and lony and elegant.The strong co-exises with
what is soft in appearance.The Camel Peak is shaped exactly
like a camel,with head,neck and tail clearly visible.The
hump is in particular lifelike.The Drunen Stone Peak,200m,
is bigger in the upper part but smaller in the lower.Ⅰt is a jagged peak,straight and upright in shape,with the body
sloping to the south in an angle of l9 degrees.Standing down below it,you feel it is about to fall on your head.In fornt of the Five-Finger Peak a huge palm seems to be opening straight forward to you venically.

Rich,Reautiful、Water Scenery Stream,Brook,Spring, Lake,Waterfall and Pool
Wulingyuan is reputed to be simmering in watercourses that number eight hundred(meaning a great many).Even in long drought water never runs out in Wulingyuan.Ginbianxi(Golden whip Brook)is linked to Suoxi Brook,forming a chain of excellent natural scenes, much like a long scroll of beautiful Chinese traditional painting. The Yuagyang or Mandarin Ducks waterfalls drop from an 100m-high cliff like two silver dragons that descend into the pond.The sight, sound and color of the scene in Wulingyuan are in deed very impressive.

Graceful and Harmoniously Blended Scenery
There are seven rustic sceneries in graceful,harmonious,and serene setting.The Shaping Farmland has two streams that flow through it.The tenain ascends upward gradually and gently and meets the peaks.The fields are dotted with cottages,which are surrounded by green trees and banboo groves.Smoke risess form the chimneys.The rustic air is intoxicating.

well-Preserved Ecological    System and   Rare Species of Wild   Animals and Plants
     The primeval botanical community in the Yangtze River
Valley is being well preserved in Wulingyuan,where ancient flora is intact.The ancient gingko tree,5 0 m high   and l.59 m in diameter, is described as a living fossil of the namral   heritage.The dove tree,yew,bretschneidera sinensis and spicebush are rare species. The wuling pine is distributed    over an extensive area. So well preserved is the pine   that it    has come to be called hundred and eighty    thousand   pine”---a   reference to its great multiplicity Some l3 species of rare    animals, enjoying first-and second   class   state protection, are found in Wulingyuan. They are in the list of animals receiving state protection. They have imponant scientinc value to the study    of the   relationship   between wild animals and ecological     system   in   Wulingyuan.