The Dabie Mountains () are a major mountain range located in central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai and

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

rivers. The range also marks the boundary between

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Province (near Tingqian town) and its neighbors of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

(to the north) and

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

(to the east). During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Dabie Mountains were a stronghold of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and the location of the Eyuwan Soviet. The western part of Dabie Mountains has a low elevation of only , though there are a few peaks rising to . The eastern part is higher, averaging more than . The highest peak is Mount Tianzhu at , with several others topping including the high

Tiantangzhai Tiāntángzhài () is the second highest peak of the Dabie Mountains located on the border between Hubei and Anhui provinces in the People's Republic of China. Straddling Hubei's Luotian County and Huanggang, Huanggang City along with Jinzhai Count ...

Landscape

The range is heavily forested (about 85% coverage) and yields valuable

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

as well as

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, particularly cork oak, making it China's chief cork-producing area. The region is median income in China, and subsistence agriculture is the heart of its economy with rice and tea predominating. The main transportation route across the higher range is from

Macheng Macheng () is a city in northeastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Henan to the north and Anhui to the northeast. It is a county-level city under the administration of Huanggang City and abuts the south sid ...

to Huangchuan in Henan, through the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

valley. The main rail and road crossings go north from provincial capital

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, through the lower elevations. In 2009, the high-speed Hewu Passenger Railway opened, connecting

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

and

along a short and direct route. It uses numerous tunnels when crossing the mountain range. Other notable major railways lines that passes through the Dabie Mountains include the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway that connects

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

via

. Numerous tunnels are used when crossing the mountain range between

Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...

and Wuhan.

Geology

Geologically, the Dabie Mountains are characterized by the occurrence of eclogite-facies ultrahigh-pressure

metamorphic rocks Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

. Geographically, the range is a complex, stressed structure, making it and the surrounding area subject to earthquakes. In late 2005, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake centered in the northwest corner of

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

province, just south of

Jiujiang Jiujiang, formerly transliterated Kiukiang and Kew-Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level ...

on the

killed at least 15 people, injured hundreds, and left several thousand people homeless. It caused tremors in

Qichun Qichun County () is a county of eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Huanggang City. Qichun County has been a major historical center of traditional Chinese medicine. It is known in China as the "P ...

County in

province and beyond, even reaching as far as the provincial capital of

International Forest Park

This scenic park centered on Tiantangzhai is a key tourist attraction in the highest part of the Dabie mountain range. Total area of the park is 300 square kilometers. Located in

province's Luotian County and close to the border with Anhui Province, the park is about 68 kilometers from Luotian town, 140 kilometers from

, 150 kilometers from Huangshi, and 210 kilometers from the Hubei provincial capital,

References

Dabieshan International Forest Park website
(with many photographs), in Chinese.

page on Dabie Mountains (in Chinese) {{Authority control Mountain ranges of China Geography of Central China Mountain ranges of Hubei Mountains of Henan Mountains of Anhui