Lianhuashan 莲花山 (Lotus Mountain) – Guangzhou, China
July is the hottest month in Guangzhou. However, it is the most perfect time to capture pictures with clear view and good lighting. After school day, I and my other three friends visited Lianhuashan in Panyu area, which is located quite far from my dormitory. We took MTR and it took us almost one hour to reach the Panyu station. We got off at the Panyu station and took a taxi since we did not know how to get there by public transport.
At the entrance gate, I was wowed by the beautiful scenery presented by the park to welcome the visitors. There was a golden bronze bull statue and artificial waterfall with the statue of Cartoon character Mickey Mouse scattered around the waterfalls.
The admission to the mountain is 30 Yuan and there is an extra cost 20 Yuan for a rented car to take you to the top of the mountain. If you are not willing to spend an extra cost, you could just climb to the peak of the mountain on foot. However, it would be overtiring since the journey is quite long. I would suggest you to take the car so you can save your time and energy.
Strategically located 45 km to the south of Guangzhou at the bank of lion sea and estuary of Pearl River, and occupying a massive area of 2.23 square kilometers, Lianhuashan which means Lotus Hill is a rare landscape in China and was once a site of ancient quarry by the local Chinese dated back to the Xihan Dynasty 2000 years ago. Because of its massive area, it is going to take you the whole day to visit the whole site.
Formerly, the site was an ore yard where the ancient Chinese stonemasons mined stones on a large scale from the mountain with very simple instruments and left numerous excavated cliffs and caves. They only used simple and clumsy tools but they were very skilled in stone mining. They proved their expertise by making three holes on a rock and struck it, and the rock fell with a loud crash. The shape of the mountain did not come from a pure natural process, but instead the Chinese ancestors played a big role in that. Through over than thousands of years of stone cutting and natural weathering, the carved stones have formed unique structures with different shapes if seen from above looks like a blooming lotus, which is the shape of the mountain today.
The mountain measures up to 105 meters above sea level, and because of its lotus-shaped stones, it was rewarded the Lianhua Wonderland in Guangzhou. Some of the rocks in this mountain are Baxian rock, Lotus rock, Guanyin rock, flying eagle rock, Nantianmen, Shenxian bridge and many others. In the past, the mountain functioned as a defense line against the British in the Opium Wars. For this reason, it is also called the “Great wall of Guangzhou”. At the foot of the hill, there are various shops, restaurants, and picnic spots where you could relax and enjoy your time with your family.
Based on the local legend, the name Lianhuashan is derived from a story that once there was a furious dragon in the south sea that came to the pearl river mouth bringing destructions to the local farmers. Nobody could defeat the dragon until the goddess of mercy passed by and saw what happened. She then threw her lotus flower into water to control the dragon. The lotus then turned into a giant stone and became today's Lianhua mountain. Lianhua mountain is made up of 48 red gritstones, which is a type of stone that has high density and quality. Gritstones are used as grindstones, which make a good material for wall foundation. Experts claimed that 8 of 12 stones used to build the Nanyue King tomb were derived and transported from this mountain.
