Sanqingshan

Mount Sanqingshan National Park lies in the north-east of Jiangxi province and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2008 as a natural property. Its recognised value is fundamentally scenic and geomorphological: an exceptional concentration of granite pillars and spires, many of them with shapes that suggest human or animal silhouettes, spread across a forested massif that mist and seas of cloud envelop for much of the year.

The name alludes to the Three Purities of Taoism — Yujing, Yushui and Yuhua are the three main summits of the massif — and the mountain has been a Taoist religious centre for centuries, with temples and buildings scattered across its slopes. That cultural dimension coexists with the natural one, although UNESCO's inscription was made under natural criteria.

The combination of abrupt relief, high humidity and isolation has favoured a notable biological richness: more than 2,300 plant species and some 400 vertebrate species have been recorded, with relict flora and threatened species characteristic of the humid subtropical forests of south-eastern China. Access to the pillar zones is by a network of walkways hung from the rock faces, which allows the massif to be travelled without leaving the path and has made the visit one of the most popular in central China.