The natural drug storehouse of Wudang

The Wudang mountain range is sometimes referred to as Taihe Mountains or Xieluo Moutains and, in ancient times, it was called Taiyue, Xuanyue or Dayue.

On Chinese maps, the name "Wudangshan" is applied both to the entire mountain range and to a small group of peaks where monasteries and buildings, which were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, constitute one of China’s most famous Taoist centers.

The mountains of Wudang have long been known for the many Taoist monasteries which became academic centers for the research, teaching and the practice of meditation, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, and Taoist agricultural practices and arts.

There are many high mountains in Wudang and the highest, Tianzhu Peak, reaches 1,612 meters. The climate at Wudang Mountains is humid and warm, and the annual precipitation is about 900 to 1,200 centimeters. There are 400 kinds of medicinal plants, and Wudang Mountains thus earned another name, “Natural Drug Storehouse”.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin