Purple Mountain (Nanjing)

About

Purple Mountain or Zijin Shan (pinyin: Zǐjīn Shān, lit. 'Purple-Gold Mountain') is located on the eastern side of Nanjing in Jiangsu province, China. It is 448.9 metres (1, 473 ft) high, with it being the highest in Nanjing when compared to other mountains in the city. Its peaks are often found enveloped in purple and golden clouds at dawn and dusk, hence its name. A small mountain with an area of about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi), the altitude of Purple Mountain at the top and foot of the mountain is about 448 metres (1, 470 ft) and 20 metres (66 ft) respectively. The annual average rainfall is 979 millimetres (38.5 in) to 1,050 millimetres (41 in), and the average annual sunshine time is about 1,855–2,059 hours. Purple Mountain is a mountain related to many historical events of both ancient and modern China. It was originally known as Bell Mountain (traditional, simplified, pinyin: Zhōngshān) and also became known as Mount Jiang (traditional, simplified, pinyin: Jiǎngshān) after Sun Quan named Jiang Ziwen, an Eastern Han official whose spirit was said to haunt the site, as the mountain's god during the Three Kingdoms era. The name Zijin means "copper" - when copper is pure, it appears purple in color, so in Chinese, it is also called purple-gold. It is also named Mount Jinling, due to its purple rocks. Jinling means "the

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.