Fanjing Mountain presents stunning scenes

Clouds hang over Fanjing Mountain. [Photo by Qiu Yong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After heavy rains, Fanjing Mountain presents a stunning sight, with a sea of clouds hanging over the mountain peak.

The mountain, a World Natural Heritage Site, is located on the slope of the transition from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the hills of Hunan province's western area. At 2,572 meters, it is the main peak of the Wuling Mountains.

Clouds hang over Fanjing Mountain. [Photo by Qiu Yong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Covering an area of 402.75 square kilometers, the Fanjingshan World Natural Heritage Area boasts the best-preserved primitive forests at the same latitude. Statistics show the current forest coverage of Fanjing Mountain is 97 percent.

After being inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List in 2018, the local community has been trying to balance ecological protection and tourism industry development.

Fanjing Mountain. [Photo by Qiu Yong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Due to ecological protection efforts, the number of animal and plant species there has increased from more than 4,000 to 7,154, forming a diversified ecological system. The rearing of gray snub-nosed monkeys at the wildlife rescue center of Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve has also improved, with three babies successfully bred from 2018 to 2022.

Wang Jin contributed to this story.