Baiyun Mountain
The Baiyun Mountain is located in the south of Song County,only 180 kilometers away from Luoyang City.It was proclaimed a national forest park by the Ministry of Forestry of China and became a national protection area in 1998.It was honored one of the \"Top Ten Spots in Luoyang\"and one of the 4A spots.There are beautiful hills and strange rocks with many stories. With the total area of 45 square kilometers,the Baiyun Mountain has two perfections and four wonders.About two perfections,one is its good location.It covers part of the Yellow River Valley,the Changjiang River Valley and the Huaihe River Valley,and is the shared source of the Baihe River,the Yihe River and the Ruhe River.The other is its varied topography.It has 37 peaks over 1,500 meters above the sea level and an open basin in the middle area.As for the four wonder,the first is animals and plants.There are 1,991 kinds of plants and 204 kinds of animals here.The second is its comfortable climate with rich rainfall,cool summer,and fresh air.The third is its various natural wonders such as steep peaks like the Baiyun Mountaion and the Yuhuangding Peak,its forest such as azalea,waterfalls and pools such as the Ninedragon Waterfall and the Black Dragon Waterfall,and caves such as the White Cloud Cave and so on.The fourth is its unique geology.It has the stratigraphic succeions of Paleozoic Era igneous rocks,and veinstones.The Baiyun Mountain collect not only the grandne of northern mountains but also beauty of the southern ones.It becomes a comprehensive spot for sightseeing,holiday,and scientific research. It is composed of five scenic spots with their own beauty.They are the Baiyun Mountain,the Yuhuangding Peak,the Nine-dragon Waterfall,the Natural Forest and Small Mount Huang. (Before the entrance gate)This grand building with white walls and yellow ridge is the entrance gate.\"Baiyun Mountain\"was written by Qigong,a famous calligrapher.Its style is a copy of honorific arch with two middle posts about 13.3 meters high and the two side posts about 12.3 meters high.The couplet on it says that it is the fairyland with rich forest,luxurious plants,beautiful peaks,white clouds and clear water. Looking from the Viewing Stand you can enjoy the Baiyun Mountain covered with mist.The peak towering into clouds is the Baiyun Peak,about 2,058 meters high.The road to the center of the spot zigzags around the mountains.The temperature of the hottest days is lower than 26 because of its altitude,rich forest and moist climate.It\'s a good place for summer holiday. There are seven beautiful peaks bathing in white clouds all the year round in the Baiyun Mountain Spot.A cave at the top is named the White Cloud Cave.With many wonders,rich trees and animsls around us,we feel as if we were in a fairyland. (At the foot of the Baiyun Peak)The Baiyun Mountain is grand,grotesque as well as beautiful.While climbing you feel fresh and can enjoy the beauty of all the mountains.We will get to the top after mounting many steep peaks.Along the way from the foot to the place about 1,800 meters high,we\'ll get to the Rest Pavilion when we have conquered three peaks. (Before the White Cloud Cave)This cave hides behind rich tree and clouds.It is about 27 meters deep,6 meters wide and 3 meters hingh with a plain room inside and many side caves.There is an ever-running stream inside.It was said that the White Snake stayed here before she went to Mount Emei. (On the top of the Baiyun Mountain)At the moment,you experience that \"I\'ll climb up to the summit and the mountains below all look tiny!\'\'This large rock lying here with a stone mouse on its back is the Stone from the Heaven. (On the Heaven Bridge)This wooden bridge connects the northern peaks with the middle ones.Standing here,we can look up at the Sky Seam and down at the deep valley. (On the Immortal Bridge)This is a unique stone bridge named Immortal Bridge with natural openings and surface,and with pines and flowers around.It was said that Iron-stick Li,one of the Immortals changend the stone into this bridge. Now we\'re at the Jade Emperor Peak.We\'ll see many natural wonders here. (At the White Clouds Lake)This man-made lake is about 500 meters above the sea level.It is clear,and harmonious with the environment around it. (At the Jade Emperor Pool)It was said that the Jade Emperor had bathed here.It\'s a wonder with beautiful mountains,trees,and flowers,and chirping birds. A saing goes that there are four distinct seasons and different climates simultaneously in mountains.The plants here are a good explanation for it.The higher the altitude,the lower the temperature.The plants are in vertical distribution.From the bottom to the top,we can see different plant belts in order along the road,such as broadleaf mixed forest,birch belt,and azalea belt.It was honored a natural museum by experts. (At the Jade Emperor Steps)The steps,about 1.5 meters long and 0.4 meter wide each before us,have 198 steps in total to the Jade Emperor Peak. The next stop is the Jade Emperor Gate.Through it,we\'ll get to the top of the peak to appreciate sunrise and clouds. (On the top of the Jade Emperor Peak)Now we are standing on the top of the Jade Emperor Peak,about 2,212 meters above the sea level,the highest peak in this scenic spot.It\'s one of the best places to watch sunrise. These beautiful flowers are azalea flowers,some of which are red,some are white,and some have other colors.They spread over the mountains.The total area of these azalea trees covers over 1,000 mu.They bloom in May and June. Please look at this azalea tree,and it is the biggest one here,covering 60 square meters. Well,we have got to the beautiful Nine-dragon Waterfall Spot.The main attraction is the rich forest and waterfalls in quiet valleys.It\'s the best of the Baiyun Mountain Forest park.They are the Black Dragon Pool,the Yellow Dragon Pool,the Pearl Pool,and the Nine-dragon Waterfall. Please look at this flat stone beside the water.What\'s it like? It is like a crocodile, looking at the stream. ( At the Black Dragon Pool ) This is the Biack Dragon Pool with waterfall falling down from the cliff ten meters above it.\"The pine in the rock twists like Playing with the Black Dragon Pool\", so people name it Black Dragon Pool.Nobody knows how deep it is.The workers had texted it with two 70-memterlong ropes.Finally they had to give up because the ropes couldn\'t reach the bottom. ( At the Yellow Dragon Pool ) IT gets its name form its shape.Under it there are two jars about 20memters high with gloy wall.Between the runs out of the pool and froms a waterfall falling into the two jars with scattering drops and loud sounds.With a greeting pine on the top, they from a beautiful picture of waterfall and pine, a good place for taking pictures. That is the highest jumping stand in Asia now. ( At the Pearl Pool )The tiny stream from thetop carved the rocks yearafter year and formed a pool.It is said that tigers had here.So it is called Tiger-bathing Pool. This cliff we see is the Thousand-feet Cliff or the White Dragon Cliff.On its top.a plank road about 500memters long was built.On the left, the White Dragon Waterfall falls downabout 60 memters.A folk song says that the White Dragon Cliff is so dangerous that even the hawk and the Immortals can\'t walk om.You see, streams through the upper pools fall down here like a roaring dragon, and you can take a picture here. This hanging viewing stand is part of the 800-memter long plank road.From the viewing stand, you can the clear sky, steep cliffs, beautiful pools and listen to pines and birds. ( Before the Nine-dragon Waterfall ) This waterfall about 103 memters high is like a big curtain.Under the sunshine, rainbows arch over the waterfall at about 9:00 in the morning. This peak before us can match with Mount Huang.So people call it Small Mount Huang.The highest peak is about 1,845 memters with many steep peaks around.the pines in the rocks extend their hands to greet visitors. ( Beside the Gong and Drun Cave ) The Gong and Cave is hiding in trees, about 34 memters deep, 17 memter wide and 18 memters high.IT is said that indicated favorable weather for crops when the songs gong and drum went out.Beside this, there is a small pool in the cave.It never overflows and people can\'t make it dry.Nobody knows why.Please have a try if you like. Walking toward south from the Baiyun Hotel, we enter the rich forest, the mixing belt of plants and animals both living in South China and in North China.There are over 200 kinds of animals and 1,900 kinds of plants.The coverage of tree is 98%.The temperature is no more than 26℃ in the hottest days.It\'s a good place for visitors to explore and spend summer holiday.Here you will see various trees such as metasequoia, Chinese yew, beautiful flowers and grees and some rare animals such as deer, etc. The Baiyun Mountain is the world of wild fruits such as hedgehog hydnum, pilose antler, ginkgo and so on. Now, we have to say goobay.Hope you have had a please trip here.Please take our regards to you families and friends.
