Huangshan Mountain
Added to UNESCO’S World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2018
This biosphere reserve is located in the hilly region of Nanling Range in southeast China. It has been a World Heritage site since 1990 and harbors a forest ecosystem almost unchanged since the last glacial period.
Unique geological, topographical and climatic conditions have created and protected the remarkable biodiversity of Huangshan Mountain and preserved the most intact middle subtropical granite mountain evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem. With the forest coverage rate as high as 90.51 percent, the rich variety of the plant community and the complete vertical band spectrum, it is an important germplasm gene bank and one of the hot spots for animal and plant studies in the world. Due to the high mountains, the ecological vertical differentiation is obvious, and the biological species are extremely rich. There are as many as 2,385 types of higher plants, 417 vertebrates, 175 species of butterflies and 138 species of spiders.
With rich historical and cultural resources, unique landscape and excellent ecological environment, Huangshan Mountain has become a world-famous tourist attraction. In 2015, the mountain scenic area received a total of 3.18 million tourists, bringing about tourist income of 2.59 billion yuan ($183 million). Tourism not only drove the community economy forward but also facilitated the inheritance of local special crafts and cultural exchange.