Tianmu Mountain, Mount Tianmu, or Tianmushan () is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
in
Lin'an County west of
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
, in eastern
China. It is made up of two peaks: West Tianmu () and East Tianmu ().
Twin ponds near the top of the peaks led to the name of the mountain. China's
Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve lies on the northwest portion of the mountain. It is a
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work enga ...
as part of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
Man and the Biosphere Program.
Tianmu is known for
giant Japanese cedars, waterfalls,
Tianmu tea, peaks surrounded by clouds,
bamboo shoot
Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species including ''Bambusa vulgaris'' and ''Phyllostachys edulis''. They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and ...
s,
temples and
nunneries, and
odd-shaped rocks. More than 2,000 species of plants grow on the mountain,
including (on West Tianmu) the last surviving truly wild population of
Ginkgo trees. Prominent among the Japanese cedars is the "Giant Tree King", named by the
Qianlong Emperor of the
Qing. In 2009, it measured in height, in diameter, and in volume. The mountain is also home to hundreds of species of birds and animals, including 39 endangered or protected species.
These include the
clouded leopard and the
black muntjac.
[
In Chinese, the name Tianmushan can also refer to the adjacent range of mountains, including ]Mount Mogan
Mount Mogan or Moganshan () is a mountain located in Deqing County, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, 60 kilometers from the provincial capital Hangzhou and 200 km from Shanghai. It is part of the Moganshan National Park and at its base is t ...
.
See also
* Tenmoku
''Tenmoku'' (天目, also spelled "temmoku" and "temoku") is a type of Japanese pottery and porcelain that originates in imitating Chinese stoneware Jian ware (建盏) of the southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), original examples of which are al ...
References
External links
Tianmushan Biosphere Reserve Information
by ''China Daily
''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Overview
''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
''
A Tianmu Mountain guide from Sinoway Travel
Chris Pearson's photos and description of Tianmu Mountain
{{Authority control
Biosphere reserves of China
Mountains of Zhejiang