A list of China's 10 most famous mountains, including Mount Taishan in east China's Shandong Province and Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province, was published in Beijing Friday.
The mountains were selected by a panel of 21 prestigious Chinese scholars and specialists, including Sun Honglie, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The event was sponsored by the China Territory Economics Institute and a magazine on land resources. The selection standards included reputation, cultural heritage, ecological environment and scenery. The 10 were chosen from a list of 42 mountains.
The winners are Taishan (Shandong Province), Huangshan (Anhui Province), Emeishan (Sichuan Province), Lushan (Jiangxi Province), Mount Qomolangma (in Tibet, known in the West as Mount Everest), Changbaishan (northeast China), Huashan (Shaanxi Province), Wuyishan (Fujian Province), Yushan (Taiwan Province) and Wutaishan (Shanxi Province).
Mountainous areas make up 69 percent of China's land territory and their inhabitants account for 56 percent of the population. They are home to 90 percent of China's forests, 77 percent of its pastures, 76 percent of its lakes and 98 percent of its hydropower resources.
An official with the panel said the list was intended to promote exploitation of resources in mountainous areas and promote sustainable social and economic development.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2003)
