The thread of sky
A cleft between peaks.
Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tyj1982338 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 江上清风1961 — CC BY 3.0 · 江上清风1961 — CC BY 3.0
Three towering rock peaks lined up from north to south like the strokes of the Chinese character «chuan», river: the Lang, Ya and Ling peaks, the highest 816.8 metres. They are red Danxia landforms in their last stage, when lone high peaks remain, and in 2010 they were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List as part of «China Danxia». The best-known sight is the «thread of sky», a narrow cleft between the Lang and Ya peaks with walls some three hundred metres high, about three hundred metres long and no more than four metres wide, where walkers see only a thin strip of sky. Some climb a stairway cut into the side of Lang peak, and bamboo forests and fields surround the mountain. Tickets cost CNY 70 from March to November and 60 in December, and it is open from 8 am to 5 pm with last entry at 4 pm, per visitor guides.
A cleft between peaks.
Like the character «chuan».
Around the mountain.
Shimen town, about 25 km south of Jiangshan city, Quzhou, Zhejiang
Yes, both are in Quzhou prefecture, though about an hour and a half apart by car, so allow a long day or two easy ones.
Choices are few in the area and local cooking is spicy and uses pork, so bring food and look in Quzhou for restaurants run by Muslims under the halal sign.