Daba Mountains

Daba Mountains
Dabashan
On top of the Shennong Peak
Highest point
Elevation	3,105
Prominence	Shennong Deng
Naming
Native name	大巴山
Geography
Daba Mountains Location of Daba Mountains

Daba Mountains
Morning in Xiqiuwan in Badong County
Chinese	大巴山
Literal meaning	Great Ba Mountain(s)
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dàbāshān Wade–Giles Ta Pa Shan Ta-pa-shan

The Daba Mountains, also known by their Chinese name as the Dabashan,^{[lower-alpha 1]} are a mountain range in Central China between the watersheds of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Part of the larger Qinling mountain range, it cuts through four provinces: Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, and Hubei. It is about 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) long.

Geography

The Daba Mountains run in the general west-northwest to east-southeast direction, along the border between, on the one side (southwest and south) Sichuan and Chongqing, and on the other side (northeast and north) Shaanxi and Hubei. The mountains of Shennongjia are often considered the easternmost section of the Daba Range.

The southern slope of the Daba Mountains drains into the Sichuan Basin or directly into the Yangzte via short streams that flow into the river in the Three Gorges area, such as the Shen Nong Stream. The northern side drains into the Han River, a major tributary of the Yangtze, which, however, does not join the Yangtze until some hundreds kilometers to the east (in Wuhan).

The Daba Mountains' highest points are in the Shennongjia massif in Shennongjia Forest District. The three tallest peaks, located west of Muyu town, are Shennong Deng ("Shennong Peak", 3,105 meters (10,187 ft) elevation), Da Shennongjia ("Great Shennongjia", 3,052 meters (10,013 ft)), and Xiao Shennongjia ("Lesser Shennongjia", 3,005 meters (9,859 ft), on the district's border with Badong County). Laojun Shan, 2,936 meters (9,633 ft) tall, is located northeast of Muyu.

In the southeast, the Daba Mountains are joined to the Wu Mountains, which block the Yangtze's flow out of the Sichuan Basin. In the east, the small Jingshan Range (in the southern part of the Xiangyang Prefecture) can be viewed as the extreme extension of the Daba Mountains. In the northeast, the Wudang Mountains are nearby; some authors even consider them a "branch" of the Daba Mountains.^[2]

In the rural counties of southern Hanzhong, in Shaaxi Province, there is a large area of karst with some of the largest sinkholes in the world, known as the Shaanxi tiankeng cluster or "Hanzhong tiankeng group". It covers nearly 5019 square kilometers^[3] and is located in four counties, Ningqiang County, Nanzheng County, Xixiang County, and Zhenba County, with the largest sinkhole (520 meters in diameter and 320 meters deep), near Sanyuanzhen (三元镇) in Zhenba County.^[4]

Natural environment

The natural landscape of the region, the Daba Mountains evergreen forests, is listed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as one of the world's 200 ecoregions that should be a priority for conservation.^[5] Dabashan National Nature Reserve is located in the Chongqing part of the Daba Mountains (Chengkou County); Shennongjia Mountain Nature Reserve (704 square kilometers (272 sq mi)^[5]), in Hubei (Shennongjia Forestry District).

The Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is a deciduous conifer endemic to the Daba Shan, whose nearest living relatives are the Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia of California. Redwoods formerly ranged across the northern hemisphere, but were thought to be extinct outside California until stands of Dawn Redwood were discovered in the Daba Shan in the 1940s.^[5]

Plants of the Daba Mountains

• 
  A forest mushroom (near Muyu, Shennongjia)
• 
  Decaisnea insignis (at about 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) elevation, north of Muyu)
• 
  Hosta ventricosa
• 
  Cryptomeria japonica
• 
  Chinese red pine (Pinus tabuliformis), in Xingshan County
• 
  Cunninghamia lanceolata (center), in Badong County

Land use

Presently, terraced agriculture is expanded in the Daba Mountains. A widely planted cash crop is the Eucommia tree, a medicinal plant.^[6]

Notes

References

Mountain ranges of China
Geography of China
Northwest China	Altai Mountains Dzungarian Alatau Tian Shan Borohoro Mountains Tarbagatai Mountains Kunlun Mountains Altyn-Tagh Qilian Mountains Helan Mountains
Qinghai-Tibet and Southwest China	Himalayas Transhimalaya Pamir Mountains Karakoram Argu Tagh Yengisogat Kunlun Mountains Hoh Xil Bayan Har Mountains Amne Machin Tanggula Mountains Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains Hengduan Mountains Gaoligong Mountains Yunling Mountains Ailao Mountains Qionglai Mountains Daxue Mountains Min Mountains
Northeast China	Greater Khingan Lesser Khingan Changbai Mountains Wanda Mountains Qian Mountains
Northern China	Yin Mountains Lang Mountains Lüliang Mountains Taihang Mountains Zhongtiao Mountains Qin Mountains Dabie Mountains Mount Tai
Central China	Daba Mountains Wudang Mountains Jingshan Mountains Dabie Mountains Luoxiao Mountains Jiuling Mountains Mufu Mountains Wugong Mountains Huangshan Tianmu Mountain Wuling Mountains Xuefeng Mountains Yandang Mountains Wuyi Mountains
Southern China	Cang Mountain Daliang Mountains Dalou Mountains Nanling Mountains Jiuyi Mountains Yuecheng Mountains Longmen Mountains Western Mountains
Landforms of China

Coordinates: 32°00′N 109°30′E / 32.000°N 109.500°E / 32.000; 109.500