Cangshan Mountain

Cangshan Mountain, also known as Diancangshan, two kilometers west of Dali, comprises nineteen peaks. All of them are 3,000 meters above sea level. Green trees and beautiful rivers are everywhere. From north to south the 19 peaks are Playful Cloud, Green Waves, Five Terraces, Lotus, White Cloud, Crane Cloud, Three-sun, Orchid Peak, Snowman, Ying Le, Goddess of Mercy, Harmony, Dragon Spring, Wang Ju, Horse-dragon, Sheng Ying, Buddhist Top, Horse Ear and Setting Sun. The names are all related to the landscape. The highest peak is Horse-dragon, 4,122 meters above sea level into the sky under a snow mantle that never thaws. It resembles a horse’s face and a dragon’s head. Interestingly enough, there is a stream between any two of the peaks. In other words there are 18 streams among 19 peaks. They streams have very nice names: Moving Haze, Ten-thousand Flowers, Sun Stream, Mang Yong, Jin Xi, Spirit Spring, White Dress, Duck Couple, Secluded Fairies, Plum Stream, Peach Stream, Mid Stream, Jing Yu, Dragon Stream, Clear Jade, Mo Can, Li Qi, Yang Nan and so on. The streams are fresh and cool, flowing throughout the year into the Erhai Sea. Together with the Erhai Sea and the Heihui River, the Changshan Mountain is a charming place on the Yun-Gui Plateau. The government is determined to protect the ecology of the area so the mountain abounds with evergreen arbor as well as rare animals and plants. Many zoologists, botanists and even students come here for field trips.

Cangshan Mountain is famous for the following eight scenic wonders named in the Qing Dynasty: Painted Screens at Rosy Dawn, Spring Snow on Cangshan, the Belt of Clouds across Autumnal Cangshan, the Radiance of Phoenixes' Eyes, Multistage Falls of Limpid water, Clouds Hovering over Yuju Peak, Clear Streams Running over the Pebble Bed in Early Winter, and Rosy Clouds at Sunset. The Clouds hovering over Yuju Peak, believed to resemble the blank wife who is longing in rain for the return of her husband, has evoked a touching legend. Hence the more popular name the Cloud Longing for the Return of Her Husband (Wang Fu Yun). The story goes like this: In the days of Nanzhao, Ah Feng, the sweet princes of the King of Nanzhao fell in love with ah Long, a poor young hunter. The king was enraged and had the young man killed and thrown into Erhai Lake. Ah Feng, the princess in turn died and became a white cloud - the Longing-for-Husband Cloud floating over Cangshan Mountain - waiting for her husband to appear. The story praises the unswerving loyalty in love between Ah Feng and Ah Long.