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Top 5 Karst Peak Forests in China with Google Earth Links

Mar 11, 2009

Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite. — wikipedia

Top 5 Karst Peak Forests in China with Google Earth Links

Southern China is rich in precipitation. The power of water has carved and shaped the rocks into beautiful karst formations. Here I list the top 5 most beautiful karst “peak forest” scenic places in China.

View all in google earth here.

1. Guilin & Yangshuo 桂林阳朔 – The Gallery of Mountains and Rivers
Google Earth | wiki | location: Guilin/Yangshuo, Guangxi

“Guilin mountains and rivers are the best in the world”. I guess every Chinese knows it. It is also one of the top 10 attractions in China. Its mountains, caves,  rock carving, rivers, lakes, culture, folktales, history legends and stories, all contribute to the unique tourism resource of Guilin.

2. Wulingyuan 武陵源 – Chinese Painting Lost in Mountains
Google Earth | wiki | location: Zhangjiajie, Hunan

Known as the Chinese version “The Lost World”, Wulingyuan has well-preserved ancient ecosystem, 3100 tall quartzite sandstone pillars (40-800 meters high), 800+ creeks, and numerous caves and waterfalls.

3. Wanfenglin 万峰林 – Heartbeat on the high plateau
Google Earth | wiki | location: Xingyi, Guizhou

Wanfenglin karst probably has the most dense and unified peaks. These cone peaks have similar well shaped size, stand close to each other, and cover hundreds of kilometers along the border of Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou Provinces.

4. Sanqing Mountain 三清山 – the most beautiful granite to the west of Pacific
Google Earth | wiki | location: Shanrao, Jiangxi

Unlike most karsts are formed by soft limestone, Sanqing mountain karst is formed by hard granite. It is also one of the top sites for Taoist. As “the open museum of Taoism”, Sanqing mountain is enlisted as UNESCO world heritage.

5. Luoping 罗平峰林 – the Golden Garden
Google Earth | wiki | location: Luoping, Yunnan

Luoping karst is more than rock and water. Its beauty originates from the golden blossom of vast canola field. Every February, thousands acres of canola bloom surrounding the karst peaks. It attracts lots of photographers.

[Scenic Splendor of China Series]
This is one post of the Scenic Splendor of China Series. In 2005.10, Chinese National Geography (CNG) selected 114 “most beautiful places” covering 17 different types of scenic patterns. The complete list is here. In Chinese. These scenic places will be covered individually in future.

[Chinese Keywords]
中国最美的地方 喀斯特峰林

[Image Source]
1. nipic.com | 2. silkroad.rash.jp | 3. qxn.gov.cn | 4. 林-蔚 | 5. by machinepig



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