Baiyun Mountain (Guangdong)
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Name
Báiyún is Mandarin Chinese for "White Clouds", derived from views of the mountain's peaks shrouded in mist during late Spring or after a rain. Its former English name, Pakwan, is a form of the Cantonese pronunciation of the same name. In English, it is also known as White Cloud Mountain, Mount Baiyun, Baiyun Shan, or—since the "mountain" is, properly speaking, a "mountain range"—the "Baiyun Mountains".
Baiyun is informally known as the "City's Lung" (市肺), from its greenery. It is also acclaimed as the "First Beauty in Guangzhou” (羊城第一秀) or the “Most Famous Mountain South of Ling” (岭南第一名山). Moxing Peak, its highest point, is similarly sometimes called the “First Peak under the Southern Sky” (天南第一峰).
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History
Baiyun Mountain has been famed as a scenic spot since ancient times. Its visitors predated the foundation of Panyu (now Guangzhou) in 214 BC, with various celebrities of the Warring States period (5th–3rd centuries BC) known to have traveled there. Its beauty was again celebrated during the 3rd–5th century Jin dynasty and the 7th–9th century Tang. Since the Song, various scenes at Baiyun have been named among the Eight Sights of Ram City, lists of Guangzhou's loveliest spots. However, few of the historical sites have survived to the present day and others—such as the view of Guangzhou's old walled city at dusk—have changed drastically as the city has expanded to and around the mountain.
In its most recent years, Baiyun has become home to a small Kung Fu community. Baiyun Kung Fu or White Cloud Kung Fu. Named after the landscape they train in.
Wildlife
The White Cloud Mountain minnow, now a popular aquarium fish worldwide, was discovered in this area in the 1930s.