Huping Mountain
Huping Mountain is located in Shimen County, Hunan, China. It is the boundary mountain between Hunan and Hubei provinces. Its highest peak elevation is, making it the second highest peak in Hunan, after Ling Peak, which stands above sea level.
History
Huping Mountain was designated as a Provincial Nature Reserve by Hunan Provincial People's Government in 1982 and was rated as a National Nature Reserve by the State Council of the [People's Republic of China|State Council of China] in 1994.Geography
Huping Mountain is a part of the Wuling Mountains, lies at the northern end of the Wuling Mountains, with 266 peaks above above sea level. It has an area of, all of which belongs to Shimen County.There are seven streams and brooks rise in Huping Mountain, all of them flow into the Xie River, a first level tributary of the Lishui River.
There are over 100 waterfalls in Huping Mountain, which known as "Huping Flying Waterfalls" is one of the "Ten Scenic Spots of Changde".
Biology
There are a large number of flora and fauna in Huping Mountain, with over 6,500 species currently recognized, including 570 species of vertebrates belonging to 4 classes, 30 orders, and 100 families, including 9 species of national first-class protected animals such as leopard, clouded leopard, dwarf musk deer, golden eagle, scaly-sided merganser, oriental stork, black stork, and Chinese pangolin. There are also 49 species of national second-class key protected animals such as Chinese giant salamander, temminck's tragopan, macaque, and mainland serow. 4,145 species of insects also inhabit the mountain.There are 3,080 species of vascular plants belonging to 1,026 genera in 227 families in Huping Mountain, including 7 species of national first-class protected plants such as Davidia involucrata, Davidia involucrata var vilmoriniana, Ginkgo, Taxus chinensis, ', ', and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, as well as 29 species of national second-class protected plants such as Tetracentron sinense, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Liriodendron chinense, and Emmenopterys.
South China Tiger Release Natural Experimental Zone
In history, the South [China tiger] once lived in the mountain.In 2011, the National Forestry Administration officially designated Huping Mountain as one of the natural experimental areas for releasing South China tigers.