East and West Jiaodebu Mountains

East and West Jiaodebu Mountains

East Jiaodebu Mountain, also known as Mount Putuo; like West Jiaodebu Mountain, it is situated on a basaltic shield-like plateau. It erupted 700,000 to 880,000 years ago, stands 106.9 meters above the ground, and its base has a southern slope that is 70 meters higher than the northern one.

The mountain has an elevation of 532 meters, a relative height of 101.9 meters, and an inclination angle of 30 degrees, resembling a circular arena, with slightly equal-height crater walls in the center forming a V-shaped opening. The mountaintop is covered with many trees. On the southern breach, red agglomerate lava can be seen, with a volume of 0.032 cubic kilometers.

West Jiaodebu Mountain erupted between 280,000 and 340,000 years ago, has an elevation of 479.8 meters, and a relative height of 99.8 meters. The eruption periods of the two mountains are quite far apart, and the older mountain still retains its pristine appearance. West Jiaodebu Mountain, also known as Chaoyuan Ding, closely resembles East Jiaodebu Mountain in shape but has a smaller volume of 0.012 cubic kilometers. Its base is 60 meters higher on the eastern side than the western side. East Jiaodebu Mountain erupted from the northeastern slope, while West Jiaodebu Mountain erupted from the southeastern slope.

East and West Jiaodebu Mountains are only three kilometers apart. Although their lava plateaus are connected, they stand symmetrically across a stream, facing each other from a distance, both taking the form of domed truncated cones. Though they did not erupt in the same year, people commonly refer to them as sister mountains.

The Jiaodebu Mountains are covered with medicinal herbs. Legend has it that many years ago, in a village at the foot of the mountains, there lived a king of herb gatherers who had a pair of twin daughters, the elder named Jiaodebu and the younger named Jiaodebu. Unfortunately, the children lost their mother when they were three years old, and their harsh stepmother made the two girls live in tears until they turned sixteen. That winter, the stepmother suddenly fell seriously ill and needed ginseng for her medicine. The two daughters, putting aside past grievances, secretly went into the mountains to gather herbs but never returned. The next day, their father and fellow villagers searched for the missing girls and found, inside the volcanic crater, the medicine basket the girls had carried along with a large wild ginseng they had painstakingly collected.

The father took the ginseng home with tears in his eyes and cured his wife’s illness. From then on, the stepmother was filled with guilt, spending her days without eating or sleeping, leaning on a cane and calling out toward the mountain pass, “Debu, Debu, come home.” A certain bird also learned to mimic the call “Debu, Debu,” and has continued to do so to this day. Since then, the villagers have called these two mountains Jiaodebu and Jiaodebu Mountains.