by Ah Man

November 28, China Daily - No place on earth can bring me so close to the ancient philosopher's dream world, where beautiful and imaginative landscapes abound and floating clouds are like ice-cream down my knee.

I eventually come to understand nature, and exist in harmony with nature. I can vividly recite poems according to different scenery, which has been deeply implanted in my mind since childhood - all the surrealistic memories of Chinese water colors of clouds, and mists like paintings along corridors of pines and stones of the most exquisite Chinese garden.

I am not a geologist, however, the mountains' endless features are captivating. Mount Sanqingshan, located in Shangrao, northeast of Jiangxi province, is a famous Taoist mountain with more than 1,600 years of history. It is located on UNESCO's World Natural Heritage list lately. I have traveled by train from Shenzhen to Nanchang, taken a local bus to reach this scenic place and stayed overnight at the mountain resort with only basic amenities.

Going up by cable car, the 45-minute ride proves to be pleasant and enjoyable; Sanqingshan collects the cream of the cultural relics and Taoist architecture.

There are more than 230 ancient buildings and heritage sites. Instead of taking a day trip, I stay overnight to get a touch of learning Taoist ancient wisdom. And I rise at 4 am and walk with a torch to reach Yujing Peak to see the sunrise. At 5 pm, the same can be said for the sunset.

Mount Sanqingshan is a new addition to UNESCO's World Natural Heritage list.

I have spent more than eight hours finishing both the West and Sunshine shores. These two plank footpaths give me so much gratification of scenery. In fact, Mount Sanqingshan boosts a particularly high biodiversity. Of course, the aesthetic value - being unusual and beautifully natural scenery - is enhanced by the granite landforms and impressive morphology.

Truly, Sanqingshan represents a masterpiece of human nature genius; it exhibits an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world. On development in architecture and landscape design, it also bears a unique cultural tradition that is still living.

All in all, there are basic criteria for inscription on UNESCO world heritage.