Daba Mountains | |
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Dabashan | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 3,105 m (10,187 ft) |
Prominence | Shennong Ding |
Naming | |
Native name | 大巴山 (Chinese) |
Geography | |
Daba Mountains | |||||||||
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Chinese | 大巴 山 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Great Ba Mountain(s) | ||||||||
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The Daba Mountains,also known by their Chinese name as the Dabashan, [lower-alpha 1] are a mountain range in Central China between the watersheds of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Part of the larger Qinling mountain range,it cuts through four provinces:Sichuan,Chongqing,Shaanxi,and Hubei. It spans about 1,000 kilometers (620 mi).
The Daba Mountains run in the general west-northwest to east-southeast direction,along the border between,on the one side (southwest and south) Sichuan and Chongqing,and on the other side (northeast and north) Shaanxi and Hubei. The mountains of Shennongjia are often considered the easternmost section of the Daba Range.
The southern slope of the Daba Mountains drains into the Sichuan Basin or directly into the Yangtze via short streams that flow into the river in the Three Gorges area,such as the Shen Nong Stream. The northern side drains into the Han River,a major tributary of the Yangtze,which,however,does not join the Yangtze until some hundreds kilometers to the east (in Wuhan).
The Daba Mountains' highest points are in the Shennongjia massif in Shennongjia Forest District. The three tallest peaks,located west of Muyu town,are Shennong Deng ("Shennong Peak",3,105 meters (10,187 ft) elevation),Da Shennongjia ("Great Shennongjia",3,052 meters (10,013 ft)),and Xiao Shennongjia ("Lesser Shennongjia",3,005 meters (9,859 ft),on the district's border with Badong County). Laojun Shan,2,936 meters (9,633 ft) tall,is located northeast of Muyu.
In the southeast,the Daba Mountains are joined to the Wu Mountains,which block the Yangtze's flow out of the Sichuan Basin. In the east,the small Jingshan Range (in the southern part of the Xiangyang Prefecture) can be viewed as the extreme extension of the Daba Mountains. In the northeast,the Wudang Mountains are nearby;some authors even consider them a "branch" of the Daba Mountains. [2]
In the rural counties of southern Hanzhong,in Shaanxi Province,there is a large area of karst with some of the largest sinkholes in the world,known as the Shaanxi tiankeng cluster or "Hanzhong tiankeng group". It covers nearly 5019 square kilometers [3] and is located in four counties,Ningqiang County,Nanzheng County,Xixiang County,and Zhenba County,with the largest sinkhole (520 meters in diameter and 320 meters deep),near Sanyuanzhen (三元镇) in Zhenba County. [4]
The natural landscape of the region,the Daba Mountains evergreen forests,is listed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as one of the world's 200 ecoregions that should be a priority for conservation. [5] Dabashan National Nature Reserve is located in the Chongqing part of the Daba Mountains (Chengkou County);Shennongjia Mountain Nature Reserve (704 square kilometers (272 sq mi) [5] ),in Hubei (Shennongjia Forestry District).
The Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is a deciduous conifer endemic to the Daba Shan,whose nearest living relatives are the Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia of California. Redwoods formerly ranged across the northern hemisphere,but were thought to be extinct outside California until stands of Dawn Redwood were discovered in the Daba Shan in the 1940s. [5]
Plants of the Daba Mountains
Presently,terraced agriculture is expanded in the Daba Mountains. A widely planted cash crop is the Eucommia tree,a medicinal plant. [6]
Hubei is an inland province of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The provincial capital, Wuhan, serves as a major transportation hub and the political, cultural, and economic hub of central China.
The Three Gorges are three adjacent and sequential gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River path, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery.
The Wudang Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The Wudang Mountains are renowned for the practice of tai chi and Taoism as the Taoist counterpart to the Shaolin Monastery, which is affiliated with Chan Buddhism. The Wudang Mountains are one of the "Four Sacred Mountains of Taoism" in China, an important destination for Taoist pilgrimages. The monasteries such as the Wudang Garden were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 because of their religious significance and architectural achievement.
The Han River, also known by its Chinese names Hanshui and Han Jiang (汉江), is a major river in Central China. A left tributary of the Yangtze, the longest river in Asia, it has a length of 1,532 km (952 mi) and is the longest tributary of the Yangtze system.
Hanzhong is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west.
Badong County is a county located in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Chongqing municipality to the west. It is the northernmost county-level division under the administration of Enshi Prefecture. The Yangtze River flows through the county and the county seat is located just east of the Wu Gorge in the Three Gorges region.
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 tributaries. The basin is anchored by Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in the west, and the direct-administered municipality of Chongqing in the east. Due to its relative flatness and fertile soils, it is able to support a population of more than 100 million. In addition to being a dominant geographical feature of the region, the Sichuan Basin also constitutes a cultural sphere that is distinguished by its own unique customs, cuisine and dialects. It is famous for its rice cultivation and is often considered the breadbasket of China. In the 21st century its industrial base is expanding with growth in the high-tech, aerospace, and petroleum industries.
Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is located in the mountainous southwestern corner of Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It forms Hubei's southwestern "panhandle", bordering on Hunan in the south and Chongqing Municipality in the west and northwest. The Yangtze River crosses the prefecture's northeastern corner in Badong County.
Dazhou is a prefecture-level city in the northeast corner of Sichuan province, China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Chongqing to the east and south. As of 2020 census, Dazhou was home to 5,385,422 inhabitants whom 1,850,869 lived in the built-up area made of 2 urban districts.
The Dabie Mountains are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province and its neighbors of Henan and Anhui. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Dabie Mountains were a stronghold of the Chinese Communist Party and the location of the Eyuwan Soviet.
Shennong Stream is a left tributary of the Yangtze River, located in the Hubei Province of central China. Fed by tributaries some of which come from the Shennongjia Forestry District, the stream flows south, falling into the Yangtze opposite the County of Badong.
The golden snub-nosed monkey is an Old World monkey in the subfamily Colobinae. It is endemic to a small area in temperate, mountainous forests of central and Southwest China. They inhabit these mountainous forests of Southwestern China at elevations of 1,500–3,400 m (4,900–11,200 ft) above sea level. The Chinese name is Sichuan golden hair monkey (四川金丝猴). It is also widely referred to as the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey. Of the three species of snub-nosed monkeys in China, the golden snub-nosed monkey is the most widely distributed throughout China.
Wu Gorge, sometimes called Great Gorge, is the second gorge of the Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River, People's Republic of China. Formed by the Wu River, it stretches 45 km (28 mi) from Wushan to Guandukou, and is located downstream of Qutang Gorge and upstream of Xiling Gorge. The gorge straddles the boundary between Wushan County of Chongqing Municipality and Badong County, Hubei Province.
China National Highway 209 (G209) runs from Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia to Beihai, Guangxi province. It is 3,435 kilometres in length and runs south from Huhhot towards Shanxi province, Henan province, Hubei province, Hunan province, and ends in Guangxi province.
Shennongjia Forestry District is a county-level administrative unit in northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, directly subordinated to the provincial government. It occupies 3,253 square kilometres (1,256 sq mi) in western Hubei, and, as of 2007 had the resident population estimated at 74,000. On July 17, 2016, Hubei Shennongjia was listed as a World Heritage Site, the 50th World Heritage Site in China, because of its exceptional floral and faunal biodiversity and its protection of many rare, endangered, and endemic species.
The Jingshan or Jing Mountains are a chain of mountains in the western part of Nanzhang County, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China. Stretching for around 150 kilometers, their peaks range in height from 1200 to about 1800 meters above sea level with the highest peak, Mount Julong (聚龙山), reaching an elevation of 1852 meters.
Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway or Xi'an-Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line in Western China between Xi'an and Chengdu, respectively the provincial capitals of Shaanxi and Sichuan. This line, which commenced operations on 6 December 2017, runs 510 km (320 mi) through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces and accommodates trains traveling at speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph). Travel time between the two provincial capitals was reduced from 16 to less than three hours.
Shaannan or Southern Shaanxi refers to the portion of China's Shaanxi province south of the Qinling Mountains. Its name derives from the province's abbreviation "Shaan" (陕) combined with the word "Nan", its geographical location within the province.
The Shudao, or the Road(s) to Shu, is a system of mountain roads linking the Chinese province of Shaanxi with Sichuan (Shu), built and maintained since the 4th century BC. Technical highlights were the gallery roads, consisting of wooden planks erected on wooden or stone beams slotted into holes cut into the sides of cliffs.
The Daba Mountains evergreen forests are a Global 200 endangered ecoregion located on the Daba Mountains in China. The forests are part of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests containing both coniferous and broadleaf trees covering a swath of Central China. Forests here provide a transitional area between evergreen forests to the south and deciduous forests to the north. The Daba Mountains evergreen forests cover areas of northeast Sichuan Province, southern Shaanxi Province, the northern half of Chongqing Municipality, and western Hubei Province.