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Photo
buffs are a common sight at Wuyi Mountain, with each
one trying to get the perfect shot of the rolling "sea
of clouds".
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The Wuyi Mountain Scenic Area is located in
Wuyishan City and stretches along Fujian's northernmost border
with Jiangxi Province. Wuyi's 36 graceful peaks, most under
600 metres high, are skirted by a zigzagging river called
Nine Bend Creek. This naturally endowed landscape of water
and hills has given the area the reputation of being the most
scenic wonder in Southeast China. Since ancient times, Wuyi
Mountain has attracted an endless flow of scholars, Taoist
masters, Buddhist monks and travellers.
The name of the mountain comes from a story about a legendary
person called Qian Keng who lived during the shang Dynasty
(c.16th century-11th century B.C.), believed to be the eighth
generation descendant of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. Because
of Qian Keng's outstanding achievements, King Yao gave him
the title of lord of Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou in Jiangsu)
and thus he became known by the surname Peng. His descendants
referred to him as Peng Zu (Ancestor Peng). To escape from
wars occurring at that time, Peng Zu took his two sons, Peng
Wu and Peng Yi, to a scenic mountain area in northern Fujian.
They settled down there, worked the land and lived as farmers.
Later, in memory of these first settlers to the region, people
name the mountain range after the two sons, Wu and Yi, and
thereafter also used the name Wuyi to refer to Peng Zu. Later
Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (r.140-87 B.C.) sent out envoys
who travelled long distances in order to confer on Wuyi the
honorific title of Master.
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