The gracious Siguniang Shan of Sichuan, China

Location: Siguniang Shan, Sichuan, China (30°59'59.57"N 102°51'4.85"E)
Date: 29 October 2006, 4.40pm
Camera: Canon 300D with kit lens

Siguniang Shan means the “4 Sisters Mountains”. It is located in the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, the same prefecture of the famed Jiuzhaighou Scenic Reserve. Siguniang is a Nature Reserve as well and is managed by the same company that has managed Jiuzhaighou. Hence the protocol of visiting this place is similar to Jiuzhaighou- one pays for entrance fee and a fee for the hop-on-hop-off bus service within the Reserve. There are three valleys within the reserve and there is an entrance fee (separately) for each valley.

Siguniang is well-known for its snow peaks, valleys, forests, lakes and biology. It is a UNESCO Heritage Site together with the Wolong and Jiajin Mountains forming the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries. According to the legend of the local Tibetan people, millennia ago there was a mountain god named Balang who had four beautiful daughters. The youngest of them was the tallest and had the most graceful figure. A devil admired the girls and wanted to marry them. So the devil challenged Balang to a fight for the girls. The devil won the battle and killed Balang, so the girls fled but eventually died from cold weather. Their bodies became the Siguniang Mountains and their father became the Balang Mountain. The Siguniang Mountains stand graceful, shoulder by shoulder plunging their heads into the clouds, with glaciers wrapping around their shoulders and green forests around their waists. The youngest girl is the tallest at 6,250m above sea level.

Technorati Tags: Siguniang,Sichuan,Aba,Panda Sanctuaries,Balang