Cangshan Mountains 苍山

About Cangshan Mountains

The nineteen peaks run north to south, each pair separated by one of the range's eighteen streams that runs down toward Erhai; the highest peak rises over 4,000 metres and carries snow year-round. The geopark is organised into three zones: the Cangshan geological-landform zone, a lake-encircling cultural-landscape zone, and a plateau-lake landscape zone around Erhai, and it also includes lake-erosion landforms such as rock islands and lakeside wetlands.

The range preserves Quaternary glacial landforms dated to about 15,000 years ago and is the type locality for the 'Dali Glaciation'; its metamorphic rock series is described by the reserve administration as a geological 'textbook', and the park is also the type locality for China's 'Dali marble'. Recorded biodiversity in the park includes 4,094 vascular plant species and 493 vertebrate species.

What to look for

• The nineteen named peaks and eighteen streams running between them toward Erhai
• Quaternary glacial landforms marking the type locality of the 'Dali Glaciation'
• The metamorphic rock exposures that are the type locality for China's 'Dali marble'
• Lake-erosion landforms around Erhai, including rock islands and lakeside wetlands

Location & getting there

Getting to Cangshan Mountains

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 苍山 with 大理白族自治州 and 大理市.