Pingbaying Scenic Area 坪坝营

About Pingbaying Scenic Area

The area sits at the meeting point of Hubei and Chongqing, with Laifeng in Hubei to its east and Youyang and Qianjiang in Chongqing to its south and west, a position summed up locally as one mountain spanning two provincial-level regions and one watercourse linking four counties. The scenic area covers 154 square kilometres and stands at 1,314 metres; the county bureau records forest cover of 96 per cent and a highest year-round temperature of 19 degrees Celsius.

Its importance is as woodland rather than as a single viewpoint. The county describes it as holding the largest tract of old-growth forest in Hubei, as one of the widest belts of rhododendron in the country, and as the largest wildlife habitat in the Wuling mountains. Inside the area, the gorge called Sidongxia is a cluster of tiankeng sinkholes and through-caves, a geological formation the county bureau calls rare even by world standards.

What to look for

• The old-growth forest of the area, recorded as the largest such tract in Hubei
• Sidongxia, a gorge formed by a cluster of tiankeng sinkholes and through-caves
• The rhododendron belt, described as one of the largest in China
• The upland setting at 1,314 metres where the Hubei and Chongqing boundary runs across the ridge

Location & getting there

Getting to Pingbaying Scenic Area

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

• Search for 坪坝营 with 恩施土家族苗族自治州 and 咸丰县.