Guishan Mountain is situated in Shilin County. Its name is transliterated from the mountain chains resembling to the back of a giant turtle, thus it’s also as “Lao Gui Shan”. The Sani (Yi) people there referred to it as “Gou Bo Ma” meaning a mountain of geese. Guishan Mountain covers a total area of 3,200 hectares with the highest elevation being 2,600 meters above the sea level. It exhibits an annual precipitation of 970 mm and average temperature of 14 degrees Celsius. Nearly for 7 months of the year it is frost-free, so it’s also a nice holiday destination for visitors to the Stone Forest that is not far from Guishan Mountain.   

 

Guishan Mountain boasts lots of Karst formations including grotesque peaks, Karst caves, and dolines etc. The grotesque rocks and peaks would greet one’s eyes one after another among the lush forest. The vegetation coverage hits 80 percent with broad fauna and flora diversity. Main plants could be found such as Pistacia weinmannifolia, Cyclobalanopsis delavayi (Yellow Oak), Rhododendron, clove, coleus, Onosma paniculatum, Dendrobium, gentian, Chinese Toon, Camphor tree, cephalotaxus fortunei (fortune plumyew), Zelkova formosana, Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis, Eucommia ulmoides, fan-shaped fern, mahonia, Chinese thorny Goldthread, Gastrodia elata Blume, barberry, Pinellia ternate, camellia, primrose, blackberry, Platycodon grandiflorus and wild lily etc. Animals: Chinese Pangolin, masked palm civet, musk deer, hawk, myna bird, common pheasant, thrush, woodpecker, Lady Amherst pheasant, magpie, hare, squirrel, toad bamboo viper, lizard and so on.   

 

A Buddhist temple was erected on Guishan Mountain in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It’s located in the north part of Guishan and also named “Guijing Temple”. On every lunar March 3rd, a grand temple fair is held here and lots of pilgrims flock into Guishan from nearby Luxi, Mi’le, Shizong and Luliang etc for pilgrimages. Guishan is also known for is ethnic cultures. Yi is the largest minority group in this area; besides Sani, Black Yi, White Yi, and Yiqing are all Yi braches that make Guishan more compelling. In 2000, it was ratified as a nation-level forest park. 

     

Add: Guishan Town, Shilin County
Tel: 0871-6779 6853
Transport: bus ride from Kunming East Bus Station, then take local bus to get there