Huping Mountain

Huping Mountain (simplified Chinese: 壶瓶山; traditional Chinese: 壺瓶山; pinyin: Húpíng Shān) is located in Shimen County, Hunan, China.^{[1]: 202 [2]: 195 [3]: 219} It is the boundary mountain between Hunan and Hubei provinces. Its highest peak elevation is 2,098.7 metres (6,885 ft), making it the second highest peak in Hunan, after Ling Peak (酃峰), which stands 2,115.2 metres (6,940 ft) above sea level.^{[1]: 202 [2]: 195 [4]}

Huping Mountain
Huping Mountain Location of the mount within Hunan
Highest point
Elevation	2,098.7-metre (6,885 ft)
Coordinates	30°00′34″N 110°40′36″E
Naming
Native name	壶瓶山 (Chinese)
Geography
Location	Shimen County, Hunan, China

History

Huping Mountain was designated as a Provincial Nature Reserve by Hunan Provincial People's Government in 1982 and was rated as a National Nature Reserve by the State Council of China in 1994.^[5]

Geography

Huping Mountain is a part of the Wuling Mountains, lies at the northern end of the Wuling Mountains, with 266 peaks above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level.^[5] It has an area of 600-square-kilometre (230 sq mi), all of which belongs to Shimen County.^[5]

There are seven streams and brooks rise in Huping Mountain, all of them flow into the Xie River (渫水), a first level tributary of theLishui River.^{[2]: 195 [3]: 219 [5]}

There are over 100 waterfalls in Huping Mountain, which known as "Huping Flying Waterfalls" (壶瓶飞瀑) is one of the "Ten Scenic Spots of Changde".^[3]: 220

Biology

There are a large number of flora and fauna in Huping Mountain, with over 6,500 species currently recognized, including 570 species of vertebrates belonging to 4 classes, 30 orders, and 100 families, including 9 species of national first-class protected animals such as leopard, clouded leopard, dwarf musk deer, golden eagle, scaly-sided merganser, oriental stork, black stork, and Chinese pangolin.^{[3]: 219 [5]} There are also 49 species of national second-class key protected animals such as Chinese giant salamander, temminck's tragopan, macaque, and mainland serow. And 4,145 species of insects inhabit the mountain.^{[3]: 219 [5]}

There are 3,080 species of vascular plants belonging to 1,026 genera in 227 families in Huping Mountain, including 7 species of national first-class protected plants such as Davidia involucrata, Davidia involucrata var vilmoriniana, Ginkgo, Taxus chinensis, Taxus chinensis var. mairei [zh], Bretschneidera sinensis [zh], and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, as well as 29 species of national second-class protected plants such as Tetracentron sinense, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Liriodendron chinense, and Emmenopterys.^[5]

South China Tiger Release Natural Experimental Zone

In history, South China tiger once lived in the mountain.^[6]

In 2011, the National Forestry Administration (now National Forestry and Grassland Administration) officially designated Huping Mountain as one of the natural experimental areas for releasing South China tigers.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Literature

When the Tang dynasty (618–917) poet Li Bai was exiled, he passed by Huping Mountain and left behind the famous line: "The waterfall flies over Huping Mountain, and peach blossoms fall from the cave entrance." (壺瓶飛瀑布，洞口落桃花)^[5]

References

1. Peng Tang; He Wangruo; Gong Youwen; He Miaomiao; Ni Lao; Wang Meijun (2018-07-01). 湘北地区 [Northern Hunan]. 《孤独星球：湖南》 [Lonely Planet: Hunan] (in Chinese) (2nd ed.). Beijing: China Map Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-5204-0689-5.
2. Wu Boya (2017-07-01). 湘北地区：常德壶瓶山 [Northern Hunan: Huping Mountain in Changde]. 《走遍中国：湖南》 [Travel All Over China: Hunan] (in Chinese) (3rd ed.). Beijing: China Travel & Tourism Press. ISBN 978-7-5032-5846-6.
3. Editorial Department, ed. (2019-08-01). 常德北部景点：壶瓶山 [Scenic Spots of North Changde: Huping Mountain]. Discoverer: Hunan 《发现者：湖南》 (in Chinese) (2nd ed.). Beijing: Tourism Education Press. ISBN 978-7-5637-3373-6.
4. 航拍视觉看景——湖南这6+1个高山之巅的风景 你有领略过吗？. rednet.cn (in Chinese). 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
5. Yao Yuan (姚远) (2021-06-08). 壶瓶山：湖南北界的奇妙世界. thepaper.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-01-17.
6. 壶瓶山被定为华南虎放归三大自然试验区之一. hunan.gov.cn (in Chinese). 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
7. Huang Xiangyun (黄祥云); Hu Defu (胡德夫); Tang Xiaoping (唐小平); Wang Zhichen (王志臣); Liu Weishi (刘伟石) (2004). 壶瓶山自然保护区华南虎野外调查及栖息地评价 (PDF). Journal of Zhejiang Forestry University (in Chinese) (21). Hangzhou, Zhejiang: Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University: 180–184. ISSN 2095-0756. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
8. Zhuo Meng (卓萌) (2020-12-16). 华南虎有望放归壶瓶山. Government of Hunan (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-01-17.
9. Qin Xiaoping (覃小平); Yang Cuncun (杨存存) (2023-03-24). 壶瓶山自然保护工作经验全省推介. rednet.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-01-17.
10. Zhuo Meng (卓萌) (2020-12-16). 壶瓶山上，华南虎有望“归山”. hunan.voc.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-01-17.