Shennongjia Hongping Gorge

Hongping Gorge - Name Origin

Hongping Gorge is located near Tianmen Ya which is about 27 kilometers far from Shennongjia. It is about 2500 meters above the sea level and is 15 kilometers long. It is said that Emperor Zhao of Western Zhou Dynasty passed through here on his way to crusade against Chu. When he arrived here, the Tortoise was angered by him and propelled his sword high into the sky. The sword finally fell into the crevice between stones. The relic of "the sword of Emperor Zhao" is still there. Emperor Zhao was forced to retreat his troops, and the Tortoise turned to a stone lying here. Hence the place was called Tortoise Stone. Later, Hongping Forest was established here, and this place changed its name into Hongping.

There are steep mountains of grotesque shapes on the two sides of Hongping Gorge. In spring the mountain flowers in full bloom; in autumn, the trees turn golden as if they were colored. The streams flow through the forest all around the year. Take a stroll along the stream; you could appreciate the landscape as beautiful as a Chinese painting. It is praised as "Hongping Gallery" by the experts since it presents different views in different seasons.

Hongping Gorge - Landscapes and Main Scenic Spots

The central of the Hongping Gallery Scenic Area is Hongping. Hongping is about 100 meters wide and 15 kilometers long. The stream there is very clean; it is cool in summer and warm in winter. Hongping is a scenic area for exploration and sightseeing which characterized by mysterious trees, caves, mountains and "almighty medicine". There are one river, two streams, three waterfalls, four bridges, five lakes, six caves, seven towers, eight stockades, nine stones and thirty six peaks in the area. They were compactly laid out and set each other off beautifully. You can see different scenery while you moving your eyes. The spots here are characterized by grotesque, peculiar, steep and beautiful. The grotesque refers to the grotesque mountains, the peculiar refers to the peculiar caves and stones, the steep refers to the steep cliffs, and the beautiful refers to the beautiful river, waterfall and bridges. Hongping attracted a lot of painters here for sketching. Zhang Bu's Exhibition of Shennongjia Pictures and Luo Guoshi's Painting Series of Shennongjia Wonders gained a lot of responses worldly wide. Hence Hongping Gallery is renowned in China and abroad.

The following are the main spots in the area: Seven-sister Tree, Swallow Cave, Ladder to the Heaven, Swallow Ya, Tianmen Ya, Hongping Thirty-six Peaks, Taping Primitive Forest and Xiangjiang Gorge.