The Python pillar
The best-known rock.
Dcpeets — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · Dcpeets — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 江上清风1961 — CC BY 3.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · 江上清风1961 — CC BY 3.0
The highest mountain of the Huaiyu range in north-eastern Jiangxi, crowned by three granite summits, the highest of them Yujing at 1,817 metres; its name comes from the «Three Pure Ones» of Taoist tradition, making it one of China's well-known Taoist mountains, and it holds old Taoist buildings, the main ones rebuilt in the fifteenth century. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2008 for the beauty of its scenery and became a Global Geopark in 2012, covering 229 square kilometres. Faulting and erosion have carved its granite into pillars and jagged peaks that people liken to human and animal shapes, the best known being the «Python Emerging from the Mountain» pillar; waterfalls drop more than sixty metres in places, and the mountain holds over 2,300 plant species and 400 species of vertebrates. Most visitors ride the cable car up and then follow walkways hung along the cliff edges between the peaks; mist often fills the valleys, leaving the mountain like an island above a sea of clouds. Tickets cost CNY 120, half price for students and free for over-70s, the cable car about CNY 125 return, and the area is open from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, per visitor guides.
The best-known rock.
Above the valleys.
Along the edges.
On the Yushan-Dexing border, about 78 km from Shangrao city, Jiangxi
At least a full day, as the trails between the peaks are long; a night on the mountain or at its foot lets you see the sunrise and the sea of clouds early in the morning.
Choices are few at the mountain and local Jiangxi cooking uses pork, so bring snacks and look in Shangrao city for restaurants under the halal sign.