Wawu Mountain Scenic Spot

Chinese Name: 瓦屋山风景区 (Wa Wu Shan Feng Jing Qu)
Location: Sheting Village, Wawu Shan Town, Hongya County, Sichuan Province
Ticket: Entrance ticket CNY 100.00; tour bus (to & fro) CNY 68.00; cable car CNY 50.00 (one-way), CNY 98.00 (to & fro)
Estimated tour time: 4-6 hours
Recommended time to visit: April-May; Jul-Aug; Nov-Mar
Nearby attractions: Longcang Valley National Forest Park, Xiling Snow Mountian, Bifengxia Valley Scenic Area, Mengding Mountain, Emei Mountain, Leshan Giant Buddha, etc.

Wawu Mountain Scenic Spot is the core area for sightseeing of Wawu Mountain National Forest Park, covering an area of 100,000 mu (16,474 acre), 87 km away from Hongya County. As early as the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, it was well-known for "strange mountains, beauteous waters, dense forests and various landscapes" which was also known as "two brilliant places in Sichuan" together with Mount Emei. The park is based on primeval forest landscape with more than 3,600 kinds of plants and the total families of angiosperms makes up 60% of the world's total. Therefore, it is also known as the cradle and differentiation center of the world's angiosperms.

● Highlights of Wawu Mountain

As a result of geological process, Mt. Wawu has formed a ridge-like landform. By overlooking from any angle, the whole mountain looks like a bungalow with a tile roof, so it is named "Wawu (tile-roofed bungalow)". The flat on the peak is about 11 square kilometers (2,718 acre), 3,375 meters long from north to south and 3,475 meters wide from east to west, with an average altitude of 2,830 meters. There are more than 80 springs in the forest, which flow unremittingly and has formed 72 waterfalls. Lanxi (Lan Creek, 兰溪), Yuanyang Pool (鸳鸯池) and Yangxi (Yang Creek, 鸯溪) are the three largest ones among which the Lanxi falls as high as 1,040 meters. In the southeast direction of Yuanyang Pool (鸳鸯池) is an area called Mihun Dang (maze depression, 迷魂凼), the terrain is complex and the geological structure is abnormal, even compasses will fail here.

Yuanyang Pool 鸳鸯池

With an altitude of 2,704m and a water area of 132 mu (21.75 acre), Yuanyang Pool is converged by many springs. It is said that two celestials called Yuan & Yang, the disciples of Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad (太上老君), occupied this mountain first, so it is named after them. There is a Taiqing Palace in the southwest of the pool which is dedicated to Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad with a wooden statue of him from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Yang Creek 鸯溪

Yangxi is about 2,661m above sea level and is named after Yuanyang Pool as the water comes from it. It is about 1,800m long and flows all year round, forming a Yangxi waterfall with a drop of 400m. Here is the best place to see the panorama of Lanxi waterfall.

Lan Creek 兰溪

Lan Creek is originated from Mihun Dang, with a total length of about 2,500 m. It forms a Lanxi waterfall with a drop of about 1,040m in 3 levels. Lanxi is named after a word “Lanhui (兰惠), which means the intelligent and leasure character of a woman. It commemorates Lei Zu (嫘祖) who was the first wife of Can Cong (蚕丛), the king of Shu kingdom. She was also the first one to snag the Chinese sericulture and teaches people how to raise silkworms, weave silk, make clothes and has promoted ancient civilization, thus is honored as the " silk goddess".