Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is located where the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus interlock, and together they form the peak of The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain-- the southern-most section of the Himalaya Mountain range. The 13 peaks of 18,360-foot Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the best-known massif in the province and also a treasure of wild plants and rare animals. Harboring a string of marine glaciers, the Yunlong mountain range, with snow accumulated over ages, extends unbroken for 35 kilometers, forming the "Jade Dragon" dancing in clouds. Its silvery "scales" shining bright, the "dragon" has a proudly erect "head" in the far north, while the other parts, rolling south, look like the back of the "dragon", looks like a gigantic dragon clad in white snow all year round. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is home to half of Yunnan's 13,000 plants species, 400 kinds of trees, dozens of flowers types, and one-third of China's known species of medicinal herbs and plants. Its many ravines, creeks, cliffs, and meadows all have Naxi names and are settings for the myths and legends of these people, who have made the plain their homeland for a thousand years. Still heavily forested, the mountain bursts into bloom every spring when the camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas start flowering. Herders take their cattle, goats, and yaks to graze on its slopes.