Jiaozi Snow Mountain 轿子雪山

About Jiaozi Snow Mountain

Jiaozi Snow Mountain (轿子雪山), also called Jiaozi Mountain (轿子山), stands on the border between Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County (禄劝彝族苗族自治县) and Dongchuan District (东川区) in the north of Kunming (昆明), Yunnan. Its highest peak, Xueling (雪岭), reaches 4,344 metres.

The mountain takes up the middle and upper part of the Gongwang Mountains (拱王山), between the Jinsha River (金沙江) and two of its tributaries, the Pudu River (普渡河) and the Xiaojiang (小江); streams drain it on every side toward the Yangtze, whose main stem passes about 20 km to the northwest. The Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau describes it as the highest mountain in China east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the highest peak in central Yunnan, and as a barrier to cold waves moving south, one of the conditions behind the 'spring all year round' (四季如春) climate of Kunming. Its name comes from the peaks' outline, which resembles a decorated bridal sedan chair.

More than a thousand years ago Geluofeng (阁罗凤), the second king of Nanzhao (南诏), copied the emperors of antiquity by naming five sacred peaks, and he placed this mountain first among them as the Eastern Peak, called 'Muni Bai' (木尼白). On 16 April 2011 the State Council approved the Jiaozi Mountain National Nature Reserve. The reserve covers 16,456 hectares in two parts, a Jiaozi Mountain section and a Pudu River section, and climbs 3,144 metres from about 1,200 metres in the Pudu River valley to the summit.

The bureau lists large, well-preserved thickets of rhododendron and juniper among the reserve's most characteristic native vegetation, along with alpine juniper (高山柏) that grows as trees over 10 metres tall instead of the usual low cushions, and cold-temperate meadows. Yunnan Net reports alpine lakes and meadows among the peaks and several dozen kinds of rhododendron flowering each spring; in winter the mountain draws hikers and ice climbers, and in November 2021 the reserve administration reported rime coating trees, railings and stone steps. At Sifangjing (四方景) the reserve and the National Engineering Research Center for Ornamental Horticulture raise rhododendrons from seed collected in the reserve; by 2021 the 100-mu (亩) base held 128 varieties and more than 20,000 plants. The reserve has also built about 10 km of boardwalk and a cable car.

What to look for

• Xueling (雪岭), the 4,344-metre main summit, listed by the Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau as the highest peak in central Yunnan
• Spring rhododendron bloom, with several dozen kinds flowering across the mountain
• Alpine lakes and meadows between the peaks
• Winter snow and rime ice on trees, railings and stone steps
• Tree-form alpine juniper (高山柏) more than 10 metres tall
• The 100-mu rhododendron breeding base at Sifangjing (四方景), with 128 varieties

Location & getting there

Getting to Jiaozi Snow Mountain

• Search for 轿子雪山 with 昆明市 and 禄劝彝族苗族自治县.