You"ll find this wintry, sylvan scene on the slopes of Mount Siguniang, the tallest summit of the Qionglai Mountains in southwest China. Its name, which translates as "Four Sisters Mountain," is inspired by the local Tibetan legend behind its four distinct peaks. According to the story, four sisters saved their people using a magic mirror to turn themselves into the mountain to imprison the devil. The tallest peak, named "Peak of the Youngest Sister," stands at 20,500 feet and is an extremely challenging climb—it"s rarely attempted and wasn"t summitted until 1981. The national park includes three valleys flanking the mountain and is part of the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to giant pandas, the sanctuary is home to the red panda, the snow leopard, the clouded leopard, and between 5,000 and 6,000 species of plants.
Four Sisters, thousands of trees
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Red-necked grebes during breeding season
-
Harvest season begins
-
Life carries on, rising from a ship s skeleton
-
A path into history
-
The Old City of Bern
-
It s not always sunny in Abu Simbel…
-
Commemorating the life of a famous railroad conductor
-
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
-
World Whale Day
-
Guild houses of Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium
-
Rocks on the move
-
The cycle begins anew
-
A picture-perfect day on Trillium
-
International Sloth Day
-
Innerdalsvatna Lake, near Ålvundeidet, Norway
-
Mercury in retrograde
-
Old Town of Rovinj, Croatia
-
The first ascent
-
Freshwater plants in Aquário Natural, Brazil
-
Summer solstice
-
The circular castle of Cornwall
-
Seville celebrates first world tour
-
For Hispanic Heritage Month: Out of Many, One
-
Surf s up—Down Under
-
Up in the Highlands
-
We re gonna need a bigger birdhouse
-
Sedona, Arizona
-
Santorini through the clouds
-
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico
-
National Merry-Go-Round Day