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Yandang Mountain impresses Western photographers in 1930s

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ezhejiang.gov.cn|Updated: May 10, 2022

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Bamboo trees stand against the backdrop of the Daxi River near Yandang Mountain. [Photo/66wz.com]

Shen Kuo, a polymath scientist and politician of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), described Yandang Mountain in Yueqing city, Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in his Dream Pool Essays as among the most lofty and beautiful mountains in China.

For centuries, the spectacular cliffs and peaceful temples of Yandang Mountain have stunned numerous notable people from home and abroad, including Herbert Clarence White, an Australian who visited the landmark in 1930s and published seven photos in the National Geographic magazine of the United States in December 1937.

In 2012, Yueqing native Zheng Jincai bought the magazine online. Take a look below to see some of the oldest photos of Yandang Mountain taken by a foreigner. 

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The Temples of Two Faiths are nestled in crevices of the Fairy Cliff. The 10-storey Buddhist "skyscraper", in the narrow cleft, sits behind Two Projection Peak, which serves as a pair of candlesticks that usually flanks the entrance to Chinese shrines. [Photo/66wz.com]

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