Qinshui Lishan National Forest Park

Qinshui Lishan National Forest Park

Qinshui Lishan National Forest Park is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a national forest park.

Qinshui Lishan National Forest Park is located in Xiacun Village, known as the "Birthplace of Chinese Agricultural Civilization," approximately 56 kilometers from Qinshui County, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province. The scenic area lies within the embrace of the Taihang, Taiyue, and Zhongtiao mountain ranges, atop Lishan Mountain—the highest peak in southwestern Shanxi at an elevation of 2,358 meters. The park covers hundreds of square kilometers of the Zhongtiao Mountain range and is recognized as a national nature reserve, a national forest park, and a national AAAA-level scenic area. It consists of five major attractions: Shunwangping Grassland, Shunwang Ancient Path, Ehuang Valley, Nüying Gorge, Xiacun Ruins, and Lishan Ancient Villages. It boasts the only ten-thousand-mu alpine grassland on the North China Plain and the last remaining primeval forest in North China. The Qinshui Lishan scenic area sits in the transitional zone between China’s temperate and subtropical regions. Its unique geographical environment and climatic features create a spectacular landscape where "majestic peaks, steep cliffs, crystal-clear pools, cascading waterfalls, drifting clouds, and misty veils" coexist with "alpine grasslands, ancient trees, rare plants, medicinal herbs, and exotic flowers." With vegetation coverage reaching up to 97% and an elevation drop of over 1,000 meters, the area showcases diverse plant sceneries across seasons, offering visitors the remarkable experience of traversing four seasons in a single day. Here, the "grand, rugged, precipitous, and vast" natural mountain and water landscapes blend seamlessly with the ever-changing "cloudy mountains, sea of fog, sunrises, and flowing clouds," highlighting both the majestic breadth of the north and the serene beauty of the south. Qinshui Lishan is said to be the place where one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Emperor Shun, farmed and developed the prototype of the 24 Solar Terms, known as the "Seventy-Two Hou" phenological calendar. Local villagers still live in uniquely structured traditional homes of southwestern Shanxi, built with wood, stone, earth, and thatch, maintaining traditional farming customs of "rising with the sun and resting at sunset" and an old-fashioned, honest lifestyle where "no one picks up lost items on the road and no doors are locked at night." They regard Shun as their ancestor, inheriting the legacy of his era, and are known for being hardworking and simple. Legends about Shun and traces of China’s agricultural culture can be found throughout the scenic area. The Qinshui Lishan National Nature Reserve-level scenic area offers a pleasant environment that is "clean water without pollution, blue skies without smog, and fresh air without dust." It is rich in cultural heritage and serves as an ideal destination for travel, vacation, wellness, fitness and exploration, archaeology, photography, artistic inspiration, meditation, relaxation, and experiencing the folk customs and gourmet food culture of southwestern Shanxi. Qinshui Lishan National Nature Reserve and Scenic Area eagerly awaits your visit.