Created 22-Jan-07
Modified 25-Sep-23
B/w photographs from Yandangshan, north of Wenzhou, in the southern part of Zhejiang province. The Yandang Mountains can be divided into three parts: a Southern range, a middle range, and the Northern range. The core area is about 186 square km. Geologically speaking, the mountains constitute a natural museum for rhyolitic volcanic (magmatic) rocks. Aesthetically speaking, these mountains (with the highest peak at 1056 meters) are one of the most striking environments I ever set foot in. They are easily on a par with the over-exposed Guilin limestone karst mountains and the Nine Turns of Mount Wuyi.
An application to include this region, an A-class scenic (=tourist) site or "World Geopark", on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, was submitted by the National Commission of the People's Republic of China in 2001. A decision is pending.
I traveled here (on foot and by small watercraft) in May 1987, searching for hidden Daoist caves, shrines and monasteries. As you can see, I found them.
Fuji color slide film, scanned with Epson 4990 as 1200 dpi TIF files. Converted to lossless JPG and to gray-scale (see the other gallery for color images).
Thomas H. Hahn
Ithaca, NY
© Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images
