World Mixed Cultural and Natural Heritage: Mount Wuyi (2)

Mount Wuyi’s Danxia landform developed mainly between the Jurassic Period and the Tertiary Period in the red horizontal or slightly declining strata. After being weathered and eroded for countless years, the red sandstones formed upstanding peaks and steep rock formations, creating the beautiful natural landscapes of Mount Wuyi. Different from other natural landscapes, the landscapes of Mount Wuyi are fantastic, elegant, deep, quiet, delicate and exquisite. The key sceneries include the “crystal-clear and jade-green” Jiuqu Stream, the 36 green upstanding peaks and the 99 rocks. The source of the Jiuqu Stream is in the Sanbao Mountain, where the clear water flows surrounding many mountain peaks, forming the beautiful twisted Jiuqu (Nine-Twist) Stream. The most renowned mountain peaks of Mount Wuyi and the mysterious Hanging Coffins on the cliffs are all located on the two sides of the Jiuqu Stream. Connected by the stream, the colorful and fascinating sceneries along the stream have formed an amazing painting which is the essence of Mount Wuyi’s landscapes and one of the best landscapes in the world.

Mount Wuyi has the most typical, largest and best-preserved subtropical virgin forest ecosystem and extremely abundant biological resources. It has also been listed on the “Human and Nature” Nature Reserves of the United Nations. According to the latest survey and statistics, 269 families, 1,040 genera and 3,278 species of higher plants have been discovered in this nature reserve, including 267 genera and 361 species of bryophyta, 40 families, 85 genera and 280 species of ferns, and 171 families, 840 genera and 2,237 species of spermatophyte. 840 species of lower plants have also been discovered. Experts believe that the nature reserve still has many species that have not yet been discovered and named. Due to its outstanding geographic and climatic conditions, Mount Wuyi is an ideal place for wild animals to live and propagate, and is known in the world as “the Window of the World’s Species.” Currently, 5,110 animal species have been discovered in Mount Wuyi, of which, 48 have been listed in the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.”