The Longquan Mountains () are a low-lying range of mountains in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The mountains are long, on average wide, and form a ridge-like barrier between the

Chengdu Plain The Chengdu Plain (Chinese: 成都平原; Pinyin: Chéngdū Píngyuán), known as Cuanxi Bazi (Chinese: 川西坝子; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan1xi1 Ba4zi3) in Sichuanese, is an alluvial plain located in the western part of the Sichuan Basin in so ...

and the rest of the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributa ...

. They range from

Deyang Deyang () is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with companies such as China National Erzhong Group and Dongfang Electric having major operations there. The city is rich in history, with the ...

in the north to

Leshan Leshan, formerly known as Jiading or Jiazhou, is a prefecture-level city located at the confluence of the Dadu and Min rivers in Sichuan Province, China. Leshan is located on the southwestern fringe of the Sichuan Basin in southern Sichuan, abou ...

in the south. The highest point of the range is Ximei Mountain (西眉山) at in

Zhongjiang County Zhongjiang County () is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Deyang Deyang () is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with compan ...

. The Longquan are bisected by the

Tuo River The Tuo River (; pinyin: Tuó Jiāng) is -long river in Sichuan province of southern China. The Tuo River is one of the major tributaries of the upper Yangtze River (''Chang Jiang''). Geography The river originates at the northwest edge of Sich ...

in the north that forms a -deep gorge through the mountains. The Longquan Mountains are the westernmost

detachment fold A detachment fold, in geology, occurs as layer parallel thrusting along a decollement (or detachment) develops without upward propagation of a fault; the accommodation of the strain produced by continued displacement along the underlying thrust re ...

in the Sichuan Basin. The other detachment folds the region are found in the east of the basin, so the Longquan stand out relative to the alluvial Chengdu Plain in the west and the Sichuan Basin's rolling hills to the east. The Longquan Mountains have shown tectonic activity in the past, although pressure built up at the edge of the Sichuan Basin now tends to release along the

Longmenshan Fault The Longmenshan Fault () is a thrust fault which runs along the base of the Longmen Mountains in Sichuan province in southwestern China. The strike of the fault plane is approximately NE. Motion on this fault is responsible for the uplift of th ...

, further west. The eastern suburbs of

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

reach the base of the Longquan in

Longquanyi District Longquanyi District () is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, covering parts of the southeastern suburbs. The population is over half a million. It borders the pref ...

. Approximately 23% of the Longquan are still forested, while agricultural uses, temples, and small villages cover the remaining portions. Luodai Ancient Town, a popular tourist destination, is found at the foothills of the Longquan. As a major north-south range directly to the east of Chengdu, most transportation links between the capital city and the rest of the Sichuan Basin cross through the mountains including the

Chengdu–Chongqing Railway Chengdu–Chongqing railway or Chengyu railway (), is a single-track electrified railroad in the Sichuan Basin of Southwest China between the cities Chengdu and Chongqing. Chongqing's short form name is Yu (渝) and the railway is named after the ...

and G76 and G42 expressways.

References

{{reflist Mountain ranges of Sichuan