Huangcaoshan Provincial Forest Park

Huangcaoshan Provincial Forest Park

Huangcaoshan Provincial Forest Park is a national forest park.

Pizhou City is situated in the border area of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui, located in the northern part of Jiangsu Province, between Xuzhou and Lianyungang. To the east it neighbors Xinyi City, to the west it borders Tongshan District and Jiawang District of Xuzhou City, to the south it connects with Suining County and Suyu County of Suqian City, and to the north it adjoins Taierzhuang, Cangshan, and Tancheng counties in Shandong Province. The city proper is located at the intersection of the Eastern Longhai Railway and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, serving as a key water and land transportation hub in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong. Its geographical coordinates are 117°35′50″ to 118°10′40″ east longitude and 34°07′ to 34°40′48″ north latitude. The city currently has a population of 1.6 million and administers 24 towns and 468 administrative villages.

Zhancheng Town is located in the southern part of Pizhou City, approximately 27 kilometers from the city proper, covering a total area of 80 square kilometers. Its geographical coordinates are 117°51′ east longitude and 34°14′ north latitude, with a total population of around 60,000.

Huangcaoshan Forest Park is situated in the southwestern part of Zhancheng Town, Pizhou City. It borders the Pizhou-Suixi Highway to the east, extends north to the Bimin River, and neighbors Suining County and Tongshan District of Xuzhou City. The average elevation exceeds 69 meters, and the total area of the park spans 20,000 mu.

The area where Huangcaoshan Forest Park is located belongs to the North China stratigraphic region. The mountains in the park were formed during two major orogenic movements—the Sinian Period of the Paleozoic Era and the late Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 180 million years ago. These movements created the initial mountain formations of the Xu-Huai fold belt. Another orogenic movement around 130 million years ago caused intense uplift and faulting, transforming the original mountains. The bedrock of the mountains in the park mainly consists of limestone and quartz sand. The park is divided into areas belonging to Pizhou and Suixi based on the exposed strata ridgelines. Among them, Shiwu Mountain is located in the central section of the park, with an elevation of 127 meters, making it the highest peak of Jiaolong Mountain. The mountain is relatively uniform in shape with slopes of about 25 degrees, shallow and broad valleys, some erosion gullies and pits in certain sections, and terraced farmland in other areas.

Pizhou City is located in northern Jiangsu, between the Yellow River and Huai River basins, and features a warm temperate monsoon climate with distinct seasons, ample sunshine, and sufficient rainfall. The annual average temperature is 13.9°C, the annual average sunshine duration is 2,360 hours, the average annual precipitation is 903.6 millimeters, and the frost-free period lasts 211 days. Springs are windy with rapidly rising temperatures and frequent droughts; summers are humid and rainy, occasionally experiencing floods and hail; autumns are mostly sunny with abundant sunshine and are predominantly dry; winters are cold, dry, and windy.

Huangcaoshan Forest Park is a product of the Proterozoic Sinian Period, featuring well-developed fractures and relatively abundant groundwater resources. There are springs emerging from the ground within the park, and surface water resources are also plentiful. The Minbian River flows year-round, helping to prevent and reduce the risks of waterlogging and drought. In addition, the park includes natural lakes such as Baishan Big Spring and Immortal Lake.

Huangcaoshan Forest Park boasts rich and diverse flora and fauna. Terrestrial animals include mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Wild bird species include turtle doves, sparrowhawks, four-toned cuckoos, black drongos, shrikes, hoopoes, ruddy shelducks, and mallards. Mammals include weasels, hedgehogs, bats, and grass rabbits. Amphibians and reptiles include dark-spotted frogs, spotfin frogs, Chinese giant toads, and grass lizards. Insects include both pests and their natural enemies, such as those that prey on agricultural and fruit tree pests. Aquatic animals include freshwater fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

The vegetation in the park is primarily secondary forest. Currently, well-preserved tree species include oaks, pencil pines, slash pines, loblolly pines, black pines, white pines, ginkgos, metasequoias, jujube trees, eucommia, chinaberry, camphor trees, privet, weeping willows, dragon claw locusts, and crape myrtles, along with large areas of economic forests.

Source: Jiangsu Provincial Forestry Bureau