Wuzhou Volcanic Evening Flames

Wuzhou Volcanic Evening Flames

Introduction

Located to the south of Wuzhou City, it stands across the Xun River (West River). Surrounded by lush greenery all year round, it earned its name from the verse “A buried sword emits light that illuminates the sky at night, a hidden pearl reflects brilliance upon the mountain.” Legend has it that Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue in the late Qin Dynasty, hid his sword on this mountain, causing it to glow at night—visible once every few days. Around the first watch of the night, flames would start at the base and spread to the summit, turning the entire mountain red with soaring flames, which would then extinguish in an instant, yet the mountain would remain lush and verdant the next day. Another legend says there is a bottomless pool at the foot of the mountain, housing a precious pearl that rises to the surface at the first watch on clear moonlit nights, casting a radiant glow into the sky, resembling the phenomena of Mount Emei’s Gega Lights or Mount Heng’s Sacred Lamps—thus creating the marvelous spectacle known as the “Volcanic Evening Flames.” The mountain produces lychees that ripen as early as April each year, once famed nationwide as “Volcanic Lychees.” In the Bingxue cave by the river at the mountain’s base, there is a delicacy fish resembling small finned fish, exceptionally delicious, especially in late spring. It is said that the nationally renowned Jia fish originated here before being bred elsewhere. The Tang Dynasty poet Shen Quanqi wrote the line: “Having endured the heat of the volcanic land, my face fades in the miasmic river’s haze.”

Guangxi Wuzhou City