The far side of the mountain forms one side of Tiger Leaping Gorge. The Jade Water
Village
About half of
China's plant species originated in Yunnan province, and Jade Dragon Snow
Mountain is home to about half of these, including trees, flowers, and medicinal
herbs and plants. The mountain's many ravines, creeks, cliffs, and meadows all
have Naxi names and provide settings for the myths and legends of the people
who have made the plain their homeland for 1,000 years.
Still heavily
forested, the mountain bursts into bloom every spring with camellias,
rhododendrons, and azaleas. Herders take their cattle, goats, sheep, and yaks
to graze on its slopes. In autumn, some of the pine trees turn amber yellow,
while the deciduous trees transmute their green leaves into patches of bright
yellow, orange, and scarlet.
Shanzidou has been climbed only once, on May 8, 1987, by an American
expedition. The summit team comprised Phil Peralta-Ramos and Eric Perlman. They
climbed snow gullies and limestone headwalls, and encountered high avalanche
danger and sparse opportunities for protection. They rated the maximum
technical difficulty of the rock at YDS 5.7.
The Austro-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock spent many years
living in the vicinity of Mt Satseto, and wrote about the region and the Naxi
people who occupy it. An interest in Rock later drew the travel writer Bruce
Chatwin to the mountain, which he wrote about in an article that appeared in
the New York Times and later, retitled, in his essay collection What Am I Doing
Here? Chatwin's article inspired many subsequent travellers, including Michael
Palin, to visit the region.
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