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Top 10 Most Beautiful Mountains in China
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Updated: 2009-11-17 17:00

6. Three Holy Mountains in Daocheng, Sichuan Province(稻城三神山)

Top 10 Most Beautiful Mountains in China

Three Sacred Mountains is located in Daocheng County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. From the meandering ranges, emerge the three sacred mountains of Daocheng: Xiannari, Yangmaiyong and Xianuoduoji. Since the ancient times, the three sacred mountains have been a sacred place for Tibetan Buddhism.

Xiannairi, the main peak of the three sacred mountains with an altitude of 6032m, is first among Daocheng's high peaks. According to legend, it is the incarnation of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Guanyin or Avalokitesvara. Its slopes are vast; its gradient gentle, the mountain looks like Great Buddha sitting in peace, graceful and poised.

Yangmaiyong, the south peak with an altitude of 5958m, means the Bodhisattva Manjusri. It is dignified and stately, gentle, quiet, noble and impeccable. It has a pyramid-as peak is the world's most beautiful snow mountain.

Xianuoduoji, the east peak with an altitude of 5958m, means the Buddha with warriors' hands, resembling a young man of strong character, tall and handsome. In Buddhism, it is the god of elimination brutality. He is brave and gallant and always in high spirits. He wears a brightly colored tiger skin around the hips, and a huge, fierce python circles his waist.

At their foot lie wide pasturelands, crisscrossed by brooks and streams flowing gently into lakes. There are woods and bushes too, and waterfalls formed by melting ice and snow creating captivating scenes. The famous sacred lake Wusehai, or ''Five-color Lake'', lies between Xianari and Yangmaiyong, 4,800 meters above sea level. The lake is oval shaped, and covers an area of 0.7 hectares. The snow mountains are reflected in the water and under refracted light; the lake surface produces five different fantastic colors. Many years later, the name of ''Shangri-La''----the imaginary utopia described in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon----- was given to this place, a paradise sought by many people troubled by worldly life, and stirred up an abating tide of ''Returning to Nature.''

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