National Parks of ChinaOverview
| Designation | National Park of China (fifth batch) |
| Province | Zhejiang |
| Location | Yongkang, Zhejiang |
| Latitude, longitude | 28.9, 120.2 Google Maps |
| Area | 92 km² |
| Nearby cities | Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Fuzhou |
| Nearby sites | Xiandu, Xianju, Nanxi River, Shuanglong (Double Dragon) Caves, Mount Tiantai, Mount Yandang, West Lake, Hangzhou, Huangshan (Yellow Mountains), Mount Jianglang, Mount Sanqing, Dapan Mountain |
| Themes | Mountains, Danxia landforms, Hills, Cliffs |
About
The Fangyan scenic area in Yongkang, Zhejiang, a Danxia landform, has eight parts, Fangyan Mountain, Wufeng, Nanyan, Shiguliao, Lingshan Lake, the Liu Ying martyrs’ cemetery, Wuzhiyan and Taiping Lake, 92 km² in all. Fangyan Mountain, the main sight, rises 400 m straight from the plain, about 3,000 m round, its walls sheer and its summit almost as broad as its base, like a square pillar holding up the sky, hence the name.
The Flying Bridge plank walk clings to the sheer cliff, perilous in the extreme; at its end a huge rock splits in two, the cliffs facing each other as a gate, the “Heavenly Gate”. The rocks are richly coloured with distinctive layering and clear folds.
On the summit is the Hugong Temple, its incense never failing. Hu Ze, a native of Yongkang in the Northern Song, as vice-minister of works in 1032 won the remission of the poll tax in Quzhou and Wuzhou and so earned the people’s devotion as their protector and bringer of good fortune. A wall by the temple bears Mao Zedong’s remark on him, “in office for a term, a blessing to the place”, answered by the Song emperor Gaozong’s inscription “Heling” at the mountain gate.
News
In January 2008 a giant statue 25 m high and 10 m across on the summit in the core of the scenic area was blown up and removed so that Fangyan could apply for World Heritage status.
In November 2007 it was reported that the Danxia landform areas of Chishui (Guizhou), Langshan and Wanfoshan (Hunan), Mount Danxia (Guangdong), Jinhu (Fujian), Mount Longhu and Guifeng (Jiangxi) and Fangyan and Mount Jianglang (Zhejiang) would join in a combined nomination of China Danxia for World Heritage status.