Lijiang Laojunshan Mountain National Park Travel Guide

About Laojun Mountain National Park Lijiang City

Yunnan will construct 9 major tourism projects from 2010, the total investment is 43.7 billion yuan.The key points of the nine major tourism projects are eco-tourism-oriented, showing the new appearance of tourism, such as ecological old town that protects nationality cultural resource, popular science tourism, self-driving leisure tourism and cultural tourism that put ecological environment protection first. The projects including : eco-tourism town of Yan Zonghai River, Sun Mountain international eco-tourism resort community of Fuxian River in Chengjiang Prefecture, China Yuanmou altar of East human ancestors, Xishuangbanna Cold Villa, nationality commercial walking street has the scene of Xishuangbanna in Gaozhuang village, national park of laojunshan Mountain, tourism town of the Kingdom of Woman of Lugu Lake, watertown of Lijiang snow mountain, Dagang exhibition center.

Laojun Mountain is located near Lijiang, Dali and Lanping. It is the main region of the Hengduan Mountain, the YangZe River runs on the left, and the Lancang River runs on the right. The name of the moutain from the shamp of this area. The Laojun Scenic area is about 715m² with abundant nature sightseeing resource: Ninety-nine Dragon pools, Jinsi Chang, Jade Lake, Liming Danxia---Thousands Tortoise Mountain, Xinzhu Nature Alpine Plants Garden...

The Laojun Mountain among the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Three parallel River, Cangshan and Erhai Lake three sightseeing points. In the Laojun Mountain area,there are many different small villages with varieties minorities: Naxi, Yi, Pumi, Lisu… Most of them are still remain their own traditional culture and lifestyle. So it is a unique and special place for developing the ecotourism.

All throughout China, places of great scenic beauty are inseparably linked with culture. This is especially true of the red sandstone cliffs of Laojun Mountain which is named for the deified founder of Daoism. Legends say that as Laojun passed the mountain, he dropped his magic mirror. The shattered pieces later turned into the 99 dazzling lakes of Laojun Mountain. One of these, the famous Dragon Pool, lies on the mountain like a splendid piece of green jade.

Laojun Mountain provides vital habitat for the endangered Yunnan golden monkey, but human populations continue to encroach on the area, threatening plant diversity and destroying vital golden monkey habitat. A ban by the Chinese government halted commercial logging in the area, but local logging for fuel wood and building materials continues. Poaching also remains a problem, as the price of wildlife products has increased dramatically over the last ten years. The Nature Conservancy is working to help the newly created Laojunshan National Park protect the region’s stunning natural resources from these threats far into the future.

What We're Conserving
Laojun Mountain National Park shelters a remarkably diverse array of plants, particularly in its rhododendron forests. More than 10% of the world's rhododendron species are found here.

Nineteen of the 92 mammal species and 79 of the 152 bird species found at Laojun Mountain are included on the global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) list. Laojun also hosts two of only 11 known populations of the Yunnan golden monkey. With less than 1,500 remaining, these primates are among the most endangered in the world and are, along with the giant panda, one of the most endangered species in China. Survival of the Yunnan golden monkey is critical for cultural as well as scientific reasons, and protecting its habitat requires immediate conservation action.

Our Conservation Strategy
The Conservancy is working with government partners to develop a management plan for Laojun Mountain National Park, train natural resource managers in conservation planning and science, and develop monitoring systems. Recognizing raising awareness in local communities is key to the successful conservation of this area, the Conservancy is also integrating environmental education in schools. Our goal is to help local communities understand how to protect its natural resources while securing sustainable livelihoods.

The Conservancy has played a major role in Laojun Mountain's transition into a national park. We are:

Developing a legal framework at both provincial and local levels that will solidify the park’s status and assisting local government to institute and improve management of the park.

Helping the Rare Center for Tropical Conservation to bring the “Promoting Protection through Pride” campaign to China and, in the process, encouraging children to get involved in efforts to protect the Yunnan golden monkey.
Leading a coalition of organizations collaborating on a range-wide conservation plan for the Yunnan golden monkey.