Lushan Global Geopark is located in the north part of Jiangxi Province. It is located south of Yangtze River and to the east of Poyang Lake. It covers an area of 548 k㎡. The population in the core zone is about 10,000. The average elevation on the top of the mountain is around 1200m above sea level. In 1996 Lushan was admitted into the UNESCO World Heritage list as the 1st World Cultural Landscape in China. In 2004 Lushan became one of the 1st global geoparks in the Global Geopark Network. Lushan is a famous mountain for its unique multi-genetic complexed landforms. It has typical mountain quaternary glaciations in the east of China, horst fault-blocking mountain and metamorphic core complex structures. Its landforms are intergraded with botany, culture and history. The landscape is dense with forest, running brooks, valleys, mountain peaks and waterfalls. Foreign villas in different styles and multiple religions abound. The deep culture connotation, the history and the continued western and Chinese cultural development have led to this place being called “the Sacred Mountain”.
The Precambrian metamorphic rocks are mainly distributed in the south of Lushan Global Geopark. The Nanhuan sandstones are mainly in the north of the geopark. The Sinian and Lower Paleozoic neritic clastics and limestones are briefly in the east, west and north slopes of the Lushan Mountain. The Upper Paleozoic limestones are sparsely distributed in the marginal area. The Neoproterozoic granite gneiss and Mesozoic granite are exposed in the central area of the geopark, and the Mesozoic basic dykes in the southwest end of the geopark. The major structure in the geopark is the MCC structure, the metamorphic core is composed of the Lower and Middle Proterozoic median- and hypo-metamorphic rocks. The low-angle main décollement fault in the margin of inner metamorphic core is deformed into a bow-like shape. The upper block of the main décollement fault is composed of the Meso-, Neo-Proterozic epi- metamorphic rocks and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, with a series of detachment faults and corresponding superficial folds, plastic folds are locally developed. On the basis of MCC structure, the Lushan block mountain was formed during the Cretaceous to Neogene. The appearance of Lushan Mountain is a fault block mountain, it is an MCC structure in entity. The geomorphic landforms are very peculiar, they gather the fault-block mountain, glacial erosion and flowing water landforms together.
Of the famous mountains in China,Mount Lushan is the frist where Chinese and foreign scholars got together to carry out academic activities. In A.D 391 and 410,a Nepalese and an Indian Chan master was respetively invited by Hui Yuan to Mount Lushan to transate Buddhist scriptures.Hui wrote foreword for these translated versions of Buddhist scriptures.In A.D414,a Nepalese Chan master came to serve as abbot of the Guizhong Temple here. In his works“Biographies of Eminent Monks”completed in A.D519,Hui Jiao—a famous Buddhist monk,wrote that“many foreign monks believe that there is a Mahayana master in China.For this reason,they would kneel down eastwark to kowtow to Mount Lushan whenever they worship.” The Sukhavati theory of Hui Yuan and the theory of“sudden awakening to become a Buddhist”of Zhu Daosheng both originated in Mount Lushan.They consititute an important component part of the theorise of Chinese Buddhism and philosophy and have left their impact on the development of literature and art in not only China but also the Orient as a whole. Jianhen,a famous Buddhist master in the Tang Dynasy,brought the Sukhavati theory of Hui Yuan to Japan.Till today,the Sukhavati sect of Buddhism in Japan regards the East Grove Temple in Mount Lushan as its“ancestral home”. During his stay in Jiangxi from 1595 and 1598,the Italian missionmary Matteo Ricci preached many times at the White Deer Cave Academy in Mount Lushan.The astronomy,geography,mathematics and other natural sciences were well received by the teachers and students of the academy. In 1804,Sir John Barrow,counselor at the British Embassy in China,went to great details to describe the landscape,plants and culture of Mount Lushan in his English book“Notes on China Travel”. The frist person who told the world the local chronicles of Mount Lushan is Wyile Alexander,leader of the China Mission of British Christian organization,the Church of England.In his English book“Selected Documents of China”completed in 1867,he gave prominent space to the“Notes on Mount Lushan”written by Chen Shunyu of the Song Dynasy. Mount Lushan saw new development in morden times when more than 30 Christian missions from over 20 countries as well as Buddhist,Islamic and Taoist settled down here,with the total number of religious sects from the West and the East reaching nearly 40.In 1922,there lived in Mount Lushan 2,497 foreigners of nearly 20 different nationalities,of whom most were missionaries.In September 1933,foreign religious missions held a meeting in Mount lushan. Buck Pearl,the woman writer of the United States who won the Nobel Prize for Literature,visited Mount Lushan frequently during her life to absord literary nutritions,Her father was buried in Mount Lushan. In 1934,Li Siguang and geologists from Britain,Germany,France and Sweden held a seminar in Mount Lushan to discuss issues about Lushan’s Quatenary glaciers.
From January 11 to 13, 2023, led by Mr. SHAO Jiusi, member of the Standing Committee of the Jiujiang Municipal CPC Committee, secretary of the Party Committee of the Lushan Administrative Bureau, secretary of the Lushan Municipal Party Committee and director of the Lushan UGGp Administrative Committee, Lushan UGGp delegation visited Yuntaishan UGGp, located in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo Municipality, Henan Province, to study good practices from and exchange ideas on geopark management with Yuntaishan. Through communication and exchange activities, Lushan UGGp further emancipate the mind, transform the management concept, mobilize energy and focus on solidarity, and enhance innovative thinking for geopark development. WU Jun, deputy mayor of Jiaozuo Municipality, WANG Zhen, deputy director of Xiuwu County, and GUO Xiaoli, secretary of the Party Committee of Yuntaishan Administration, and other Lushan leaders TANG Jianyu, YUAN Yong, ZHANG Li and ZOU Fei participated the event. Lushan UGGp delegation visited Yuntaishan Intelligent Tourism Comprehensive Command Center, Hongshi Gorge Scenic Spot, Xiaozhaigou Scenic Area, Yunshang Courtyard Homestay, and made an in-depth and detailed study on new ideas and new measures in Yuntaishan tourism development, scenic spot construction, precision marketing, business type improvement, operation management, transportation optimization. The two geoparks also held exchanges and discussions on practical management and local policies. During the exchange meeting, SHAO Jiusi said that both two geopark should enhance regional cooperation, learn from each other, and work together to promote mutual sharing of resources, tourist interaction, and brand building between the two geoparks. WU Jun expressed the hope that Yuntashan UGGp and Lushan UGGps should further promote communication and exchange, learn from each other, develop and work together to promote the overall management efficiency and the high-quality development of cultural and tourism undertaking of the two places.
