Located in the boundaries of Lin'an County of Zhejiang Province, Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve covers a total area of 4,284 hectares. The Reserve lies between east longitude of 119o24′- 119o28′ and north latitude of 30o18′- 30o25′. Tianmu Mountain is a famous mountain with a long history of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The topography and unique Buddhist culture have made Tianmu Mountain a wonder of the world for its quite entire preservation of its wildlife and vegetation. Established in 1958 with the approval of the Central Government as felling ban area, Tianmu MountainNational Nature Reserve was promoted as a national reserve in 1986 and included by UNESCO in the International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network.
Climate
Tianmu Mountain lies in the northern limit of mid-subtropical zone. The climate there is damp monsoon climate, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. The annual average temperature in Chanyuan Temple is 14℃, and in July, the annual temperature averages 26℃. The annual temperature in its main peak Xianrending averages 8.8℃. That's why Tianmu Mountain is such a famous summer resort in East China.
Physical Features
Tianmu Mountain is of old geological age with an elevation of 300-1,506 meters. The Reserve has distinctive and diversified physical features with numerous valleys, rocks and precipices. There are 4 streams, 5 pools, 6 caves, 7 ravines, 8 terraces, 9 lakes, 12 cliffs, 27 stones and 28 peaks, presenting a scenic splendor.
Plants
It is mild and moist, and vegetation here is featured by its geological age and biodiversity. The region is one of the sites with the richest subtropical higher plant species in China. There are 2,160 species of higher plants, 1,781 species of seed plants, 151 species of ferns, 222 species of mosses and 69 species of mosses. Among them, more than 37 species are named after Tianmu Mountain and 1,200 species of medicinal plants.
In the Reserve, there are 35 species of plants under focal state protection, and some of them are rare and precious such as Katsura tree, Chinese tulip, yulan magnolia (Magnolia denudata),Tianmu sago cycas and so on. Ginkgo biloba, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Liriodendron Chinese are endangered species. Ginkgoes are dotted in areas with an elevation of 300-1,100 meters. The ancient pines in Tianmu Mountain bypassed in the evolutionary process can top 80 meters and each volume of timber can reach over 40 cubic meters. There are only 5 Tianmu Tiemus (Ostrya rehderiana Chun), which are called single child of the earth.
Animals
The Reserve has a total of 2,139 animal species, among which there are 74 species of beasts, 148 species of birds, 44 species of reptiles and 20 species of amphibians as well as 1,853 species of insects kept on the record. However, according to the recent research, the number of insect species has already topped 3,000 and about 100 species are newly discovered. Whether they are new species or not has not been identified. Among numerous animal species, 35 species such as clouded leopard, white-necked pheasant and pangolin are under the state protection.
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