The entrance of Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve

The first nature reserve in China is Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve. It was established in 1956 near Zhaoqing city in Guangdong province mainly to protect evergreen monsoon rain forests of the south subtropical zone. The Reserve lies between east longitude of 112o30′- 112o33′ and north latitude of 23o09′- 23o11′ with an area of 1,133 hectares.

The natural forest of the region is one of the special natural forest types in the world, and therefore it is of high science and research value. In 1979, Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve was included in the International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network of the UNESCO as a global conservation spot for the research of ecosystem in tropical and subtropical forest.

Picturesque scene of the nature reserve

Climate

The climate here is damp monsoon climate of south subtropical zone. It is moist and rainy, providing favorable conditions for plants to grow. The temperature is quite different in summer and in winter. The annual average temperature is 20.9℃. The average temperature in July, the hottest month, is 28.0℃ with the extremely highest temperature of 38.0℃. In contrast, the average temperature in January, the coldest month here, is 12.6℃ with the extremely lowest temperature of 0.2℃ below zero. The annual precipitation tops 1.929 millimeters. The annual relative humidity averages 82 percent. July, August and September are typhoon months and about 4 typhoons hit the region every year.

Physical Features

Dinghu Mountain is one of the four famous mountains -- Danxia, Dinghu, Xiqiao and Luofu in Guangdong province. Dinghu Mountain has more than 10 peaks such as Dinghu, Sanbao, Fenglai, Jilong, Fuhu and Qingshi. The peaks are about 500 meters above sea level. The highest peak is Jilong with an altitude of 1,003 meters. There is over 900 meters in terms of altitude between the highest peak and the lowest one. There is red soil in each zone in the Reserve. Yellow soil and grassy marshland are vertically distributed in the Reserve. Two streams rising in Jilong Mountain run perennially from northwest to southeast and join at the entrance of Dinghu Mountain National Natural Reserve before flowing into Xijiang River.

Biological Features

The Azalea

The forest coverage in the Reserve reaches 78 percent. Evergreen broad-leavedforests of south subtropical zone with a history of 400 years are well protected. As top vegetation in the monsoon zone, they are precious natural heritage belonging to China and the whole world. The vegetationis vertically distributed with rich and conspicuous features into several types including monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forests and mountainous evergreen broad-leaved forests.

There are abundant animal and plant resources with great variety. More than 2,400 species of plants are distributed here, and of these species, about 1,700 higher plants including 320 xyplants and over 900 plants for medicine, 110 fibrous plants and 70 oil plants among which 22 rare, precious and endangered plants under the special state protection including Lichi chinensis and Cycas spp. In addition, there are more than 170 species of birds, 30 species of animals and 20 species of pythons, among which leopards, serows and silver pheasants are under the state protection. Silver pheasant is the official bird of Guangdong province.