Phoenix Mountain, also known by its Chinese name Fenghuangshan, is a mountain located on the edge of West Lake in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

, the capital of

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

province in eastern

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 ...

. It is connected with a string of hills called ''Wushan'' and is the highest point within the city. According to Chinese legend, the mountain is the earthly remains of a mythical golden phoenix who, along with a jade

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

, had created a beautiful pearl which was subsequently stolen from them by the henchman of a queen goddess. In their attempt to rescue the pearl from the jealous queen, the pair cause the pearl to drop from heaven and turn into West Lake. The phoenix and dragon decide to remain beside it forever by becoming mountains. Ancient hangzhou

It is also the site of the imperial palace of the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...

, lie at the foot of the mountain in Shangcheng district of Hangzhou. The palace is destroyed in 1276, eleven years after the fall of the dynasty.

References

{{coord, 30.22, N, 120.15, E, display=title Mountains of Zhejiang

See also

References