The Fanjingshan or Mount Fanjing, located in Tongren, Guizhou province, is the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains in southeastern China, at an elevation of 2,570 m (8,430 ft). The Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve was established in 1978 and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986. Fanjingshan is a sacred mountain in Chinese Buddhism, considered to be the bodhimaṇḍa of the Maitreya Buddha. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
The mountain’s name “Fanjing” is an abbreviation of Fantian Jingtu, or “Brahma’s Pure Land”. Fantian is the Chinese name for the Buddhist heavenly kingBrahmā, and Jingtu is Chinese for “pure land“, the focus of Pure Land Buddhism.
Fanjingshan is located in Tongren, Guizhou Province in southeastern China. It is the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains. The elevation of its terrain ranges from 480 to 2,570 meters (1,570–8,430 ft) above sea level.
The Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve was established in 1978 and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986. The reserve covers a total area of 567 km² (219 sq mi) and is a conservation area for primitive vegetation of the mid sub-tropic alpine region of eastern China. The mountain was designated a World Heritage Site in July 2018.
Fanjingshan’s relative isolation has ensured a high degree of biodiversity. Endemic species such as the rare Guizhou golden monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi) and the Fanjingshan fir (Abies fanjingshanensis) occur only in a small region centering on Fanjingshan.> Several endangered species, including the Chinese giant salamander, forest musk deer, and Reeve’s pheasant are also found in Fanjingshan. It is also home to the largest and most contiguous subtropical primeval beech forest.
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