Nanhua Mountain Scenic Area

　　Nanhua Mountain Scenic Area, located in Xiaguang Village, Yanglin Town, Kaihua County, is a green jewel embedded along Provincial Highway 17 on the Huabai Line at the border of Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces. It encompasses mountains, forests, streams, rocks, clouds, mist, flowers, grasses, birds, beasts, fish, and insects within its bounds, blending the sacred, mystical, marvelous, elegant, unique, and spectacular. The majestic Nanhua Mountain features undulating peaks, ancient trees reaching to the sky, and lush greenery all around. The Nanhua Stream runs crystal clear, with verdant mountains lining both banks. Its landscape not only retains primitive and semi-primitive characteristics but also holds historical significance—as during World War II, the Red Army traversed these mountains and rivers, fought their way through Nanhua Mountain, and engaged in the heroic Battle of Caidao Ridge, composing moving and epic chapters of history. Today, the area’s abundant biodiversity, rare birds and animals, make it a natural gene bank of life and a “museum” of natural vegetation.

　　The Nanhua Mountain Ecological Corridor belongs to the Huaiyu Mountain Range, with a geological structure primarily composed of hard granite, resulting in steep terrain and continuous bizarre rock formations and peaks. It consists of three main ridges and two deep valleys. The main peak, Nanhua Mountain, stands at an elevation of 1,166.2 meters and borders Caidao Ridge at 1,114 meters. The ecological reserve spans over 22,000 acres of forest, which includes precious tree species such as fragrant fruit trees, long-sequoia elms, and yew trees, as well as hundred-acre wild loquats, thousand-acre red nanmu forests, thousand-acre sweet gum forests, a thousand-year-old plum tree king, and a thousand-year-old sweet tea tree king. The vast expanses of plum trees are considered a unique spectacle in southern China. The sweet tea has the remarkable property of relieving coughs and reducing phlegm, and it becomes sweeter the longer it steeps—an astonishing feature. It is truly a wonder of western Zhejiang, and the expansive broadleaf forests are also a rarity within Kaihua County. All of this forms a uniquely beautiful landscape. Additionally, the mountains are covered with woody grain-producing tree species: two types of evergreen oaks (sweet oak and soft oak), three types of chestnuts (chestnut, Chinese chestnut, and bush chestnut), and four types of oaks (stone oak, white oak, and cyclobalanopsis glauca), earning them the title of “wild grain storages.” The rich plant resources not only provide ample food for birds and beasts but also create an ideal habitat for various animals to live and reproduce. According to Lan Jincheng, an elder from Xiaguang Village, from his childhood to the present, aside from common wildlife such as eagles, crows, magpies, sparrows, mynas, rabbits, deer, and wild boars, he has also spotted rare animals like Elliot’s pheasant, silver pheasant (mountain chicken), koklass pheasant (bamboo chicken), black deer, golden cats, pangolins, small Indian civets, black bears (bears), and leopards.

　　The Nanhua Mountain Ecological Corridor is home to the 9-kilometer-long Nanhua Stream, which originates at the foot of Nanhua Mountain and Caidao Ridge. It is formed by the convergence of two mountain streams, Big Valley and Small Valley, at Shuangwukou. Flowing past Xiaguang Village and under the Xiaguang Arch Bridge, it merges with the Longshan Stream to become a tributary of the Qiantang River source. Walking along the stream, one encounters breathtaking scenery along the ancient, winding paths shaded by dense foliage and flanked by competing rocky cliffs—each turn reveals a new view. The stream rushes with splashing water, offering the experience of “a hundred turns of emerald following you.” Within the valley where water and mountain entwine and paths wind along the water, there are attractions such as Swan Hatching Eggs, Mysterious Ancient Tomb, Turtle Emerging from the Mountain, Fairy Scattering Flowers, Three Pools of Divine Water, Monkey Cave, and Bronze Gong Rock. A hundred-meter-tall stone pool hangs like a white silk ribbon before your eyes, twisting and turning with a majestic presence. Nanhua Mountain is known for its “Three Wonders”: crabs but no snails in Small Valley, snails but no crabs in Big Valley, and crucian carp with sprouts resembling chives on their bodies. The Chinese giant salamander is also a rare animal found in the Nanhua Stream. In the streams, its figure often appears, swaying its head and tail playfully in the clear water under sunlight, its peculiar form a delightful sight.

　　Nanhua Mountain Scenic Area is not only rich in ecological tourism resources but also boasts abundant cultural and historical sites. Haoling Pass in Haoling Village and Yinling Pass in Xiazhuang Village are both ancient military fortresses, now listed as county-level cultural heritage protection units. The “Yunwu Mountain Boundary” stone inscription from the Qianlong era on Nanhua Mountain records the history of the area as a supplier of rare timber as tribute. There is also the “Menglan Gang” stele, among others. The best-preserved memorial archway in the region is the “Hu Family Chastity Archway” from the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, featuring elegant design and constructed with naturally stacked rough stones.

　　On January 11, 1935, the vanguard unit of the 10th Red Army Corps of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, on its northward journey to resist Japan, entered Kaihua after several battles in southern Anhui. In the early hours of January 13, the vanguard passed through Xiaguang Village and ascended Nanhua Mountain via Taohuawu and Walikeng (now commonly known as Big Valley and Small Valley). The mountain features natural caves where Fang Zhimin once took shelter, hence the name “Red Army Cave.” At the entrance of Chengjia Village stand five large, tall, and leafy trees (all 30 meters high with diameters of 80 to 100+ centimeters—four sweet gums and one Chinese sweet gum), which villagers call the “Gathering of Five Generals” or “Trees of Affection.” Nearby, there is also a 25-meter-tall, 1-meter-diameter “Five-Star Tree.” Legend says that when Fang Zhimin’s troops passed through, villagers cut branches from this tree to make a walking stick for him, and the cut left a pentagram-shaped mark, hence its name. At the end of Nanhua Mountain lies the ruins of a house, said to have been a summer retreat for wealthy families in the past. Near the site remains a rice pestle water mill used by Fang Zhimin and his anti-Japanese vanguard troops during their rest here. Time has passed, but Nanhua Mountain, trodden and stained with the blood of the Red Army, has now become a cherished destination for many.