Tianmu Mountain has an aged geologic foundation. At
the end of Ordovician period, sea beds rose and folded
to form terrene. The major body of the mounta
in
was formed 150 million years ago in a strong volcanic
orogenic movement called Yanshan Movement. This area
is also known as "the sample of old glacier relic
in east China". Prominent crags, strange rocks
and numerous valleys are magnificently spectacular.
The beautiful natural landscape is featured by 4 streams,
5 pools, 6 caves, 7 gullies, 8 terraces, 9 ponds,
12 rocks, 27 stones, and 28 peaks. It is coined as
"wonder mountain of Jiangnan" due to the
fact that its particular geomorphology and unique
Buddhism culture foster theprotection of flora and
fauna of the region and Tianmu Mountain becomes a
region with a large group of higher plants in China's
central-subtropical forest zone. Tianmu Mountain Nature
Reserve preserves the representative forest vegetation
of the middle and lower reaches of Yangtse River.
The forest landscapes are known as "ancient,
giant, high, rare, plentiful, beautiful". "Ancient":
Tianmu Mountain preserves living "fossil"
of the Mesozoic Era such as wild ginkgo, a survivor
plant. This species in naturally wild form is found
only in Tianmu Mountain Nature Reserve across the
world. There is a natural scene of wild ginkgo family
called "five generationsliving together".
"Giant": Tianmu Mountain is famed for "giant
trees with huge baldachins". There are almost
400 trees with a diameter of 1 meter or larger. This
gives a good name of "the Kingdom of Giant trees"
to Tianmu Mountain. "High": the golden larch
(Pseudolarix kaempferi Gord.) here is the highest
among the same species in China. The highest one is
about 56 meters high, coined as "skyrocketing
tree". "Rare": there are many unique
tree species in Tianmu Mountain, among which the foremost
is Tianmu ironwood (Ostrya rehderiana), which is on
the edge of extinction worldwide. Only 5 survivors
are found in Tianmu Mountain. Other rare and precious
trees are Jambolan tree (Emmenopterys henryiOliv),
Leading spring tree (Euptelea pleiospermum Hook.f.et
Thoms), Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum Sieb.et
Zucc.), Tapiscia sinensis Oliv. etc. "Plenti
ful":
the vegetable species of Tianmu Mountain Nature Reserve
is so plentiful that it enjoys the name of "Natural
Arboretum". "Beautiful": numerous plants
form a splendid forest picture. The beautiful scenes
of tree and branches and layers of mountains can be
seen in all seasons.
Tianmu Mountain enjoys obvious location advantages.
It is on "the golden tourist line" between
two national tourist places of Hanzhou and Huangshan
(Yellow Mountain). It possesses the easy access to
Shanghai and Hanzhou in its east, Nanjing in its north
and the Lake of Thousand Islands in its south. Fantastic
natural scenery, pleasant montane climate, centuries-old
religious cultures, convenient transportation and
perfect accommodative facilities all make Tianmu Mountain
a famous tourist attraction, a summer resort, and
a scientific exploration spot.
