Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain
Baiyun Mountain (known locally as White Clouds Mountain) is located in north of Guangzhou city. It is named “the most beautiful place in the “Sheep City” (the nick name of Guangzhou City is “Sheep City”)”， and it is also one of the first 4A Grade interest places in China. This mountain is clustered round by over 30 ridges， with an area of 28 square kilometers. The highest peak is Moxing Ridge， 382 meters above the sea. When the sun shines again after the rain， white clouds are twisting the peaks， the green mountain and refreshing water are enshrined in the boundless sea of clouds， hence came the name of Baiyun (white cloud) Mountain.
Guangzhou is a long-history city， and it was founded since the Qin & Han Dynasties 2220 years ago， but Baiyun Mountain was well-known for its nice scenery even earlier than the foundation of Guangzhou City. For its adjustment to the city entironment and its rich natural & literary resources， Baiyun Mountain is called “green lung” of Guangzhou.
Baiyun Mountain has 7 sight-seeing regions. From south to north are: Crane Fluttering Crag， Lu Lake， Santai Crag， Mingchun Valley， Moxing Ridge， Bright Pearl Pavilion， and the new Heyi Ridge.
Lu Lake is the biggest artificial lake and public multi-function park in Guangzhou. Here you may enjoy culture education， leisure entertainment， sports exercises， delicious foods etc. Beside Lu Lake， there are the modern Guangzhou Arts Museum， children amusement park， Xinhai Park， and one golf club.
Yuntai Garden in Santai Crag region， combines both Chinese and foreign garden architectures styles. At the front gate， we may see lighting fountains. Then some semitropical and tropical plants like cactus， palm， and orchid. After seeing the rock park， rose park and friendship park， let’s take cable car to other regions. This cable railroad is a new one since September 2004. It’s totally 1800m long， 5m/second， and may transport 1400 tourists per hour.
Now we come to Mingchun Valley Region. On the left side， it is Nengren Temple firstly constructed in Qing Dynasty. Here is White Could Evening View spot， which is one of the eight sights of Guangzhou. When night falls， standing here enjoy sunset glow， have an overlook to Zhujiang river and Guangzhou city， how pleasurable!
The huge natural birdcage you see is biggest in China and second biggest in Asia， it occupies 11，000 square meters. The cage is supported by 18 pieces 10-25 meters high steel post. The steel net covers a natural village， here there are more than 5000 birds， over 130 species， make you feel you are in forest. Do you want to see birds play basketball， take swing & slide， speak Chinese， let’s watch birds performance.
We enter Moxing Ridge region. Moxing Ridge is the highest peak in Baiyun mountain， it is 382-m high. No matter the weather， you may appreciate different beautiful scene with white cloud， green forest here.
Long long ago， there was a young man， Anqi Sheng， lived in Baiyun Temple to study. One day he was very thirsty， but can not find any water. He found a cave in the temple， there 9 kids playing. Suddenly the 9 kids changed into 9 colorful dragons and flied to the sky. The cave became a spring， we call it “9-dragon Spring” or “Anqi well”， it is the most famous spring in Baiyun Mountain.
This Baiyun Temple is one of the oldest temples in Guangzhou. The two big stone posts are 6-m high， 9.9-ton weight， its diameter is 1.1m. On its top， there are 9 dragon heads. Here are “suanxi villa” and “shanzuan cottage”， Chinese leaders like Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping both held important political affairs here.
Now we climb up the Bright Pearl Pavilion， the reservoir you see is “huang po dong reservoir”. It was constructed in 1956 and surrounded by mountains.
The sculpture park we are now is in Crane fluttering Crag region. The sculpture park is classified into Guangzhou history， Chinese history， sight-seeing and forest four areas.
The last Heyi Ridge region has an ecotype park， and a lychee garden. The ecotype park is the biggest free park in Guangzhou， with fresh air， it is the city’s green leisure area.