DanxiaMountainNationalkeyscenicspotisalsoanationalgeologicalandgeomorphicnaturereserve,withatotalareaof215squarekilometers.ItspansRenhuaandQujiangcountiesandconsistsofDanxiaMountain,dashishanandshaoshishan.Shaoshishanscenicspotisonlytenkilometersawayfromtheurbanarea.DanxiaMountainscenicspot,whichwasdevelopedearlier,isthemainscenicareaatpresent,50kilometersawayfromShaoguanCity.Ithasmorethan380stonepeaks,stonecastles,stonewalls,stonebridgesand36caves.Itconsistsofthreelandscapelayers:thelowerlayeristhejinshiyanlandscapelayer.Thestonewallsherearecrisscrossinfivecolorsandchangeinfourseasons.Thelargestcaveinthethirty-sixcavesinDanxiaMountain,jinshiyan,ishangingontheBaizhangcliffneartheriver.IntheNorthernSongDynasty,themonkswereattractedbythewonderfulsceneryofthegrotesquecaveshere,sotheyopenedupthisplaceasapurelandforBuddhism,andbuilt18nunneriestogether.ThisisthebeginningofthelandscapearchitectureofDanxiaMountain.
Today,mostofthebuildingsinthoseyearsarenotthere.Theexistingnunnerywasrebuiltin1981.InadditiontorestoringtheoriginalBuddhaimages,thisrestorationhasalsocreatedanewformofGuanyinBodhisattvaandhisthirty-two"Yingbodies"(i.e.incarnations),withdifferentexpressions.Mr.ZhaoChengchengChuoncewroteapoempraising:"theclaystatuesarenevertiredofkneading,yearningforDunhuangandsighingforthepastsages."alongtheway,thereareMengjuepass,Tongtiancave,yixiantian,Maweispringandotherscenicspots.Themiddlelayeristhelandscapelayerofbiechuantemple.Biezhuantemplewasbuiltin1662A.D.inthefirstyearofEmperorKangxioftheQingDynasty.ItwasbuiltbyDanGUI,arighteousandeminentmonkinthelateMingDynasty.ItisoneofthetoptenjunglesinLingnan.
ThemainlandscapesofthisfloorincludeJiegemorningbell,Songjianwind,Zhupomistyrain,ShuangchiBihe,Yuanyangtree,bieyoutian,etc.Theearliestandlargestinscriptionsonthecliffsare"Jinyan"writtenbyNanZhaorulei,eachofwhichismorethanfivefeetinsize.Thelargestnumberofinscriptionsis"recordsofDanxiaMountain"writtenbyLichongmaointhelateMingDynasty,with1344charactersinfull.Fromthebiechuantemple,afterthesecondgatewasclosed,weclimbedupanalmostverticalstonepathalongtheironropeandcametothetoplandscapelayerofDanxiaMountain.Thisisnotonlythebestplacetowatchthesunrise,butalsotheancientandmodernlandscapesuchasLuodingfutu,RuquanChunliu,YutaiShuangqi,HongqiaoYongcui,etc.thecemeteryofDanguimonkisalsobuilthere.AtthefootofDanxiaMountain,thereisalongandnarrowreservoircalledXianglonglake.Aroundthelake,therearethreerocks,sixcaves,eighteenpeaksandbeautifulscenery,whichareveryattractive.