Dabie Shan

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Dabie Shan (大别山) is a major mountain range ("shan" means "mountain" and the range is sometimes called the Dabie Mountains in English) located in central China.

Running northwest-to-southeast, it is the main watershed between the Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei province and its neighbors of Hunan (to the north) and Anhui (to the east).

The western part of Dabie Shan has a low elevation of only 1,000–1,300 feet (300–400 meters), though there are a few peaks at 3,000 feet (900 meters). The eastern part is higher, averaging more than 3,300 feet (1,000 meters). The highest peak is Mount Huo at 5,820 feet (1,774 meters), with several others topping 5,000 feet (1,500 meters).

Geologically, the range is a complex, stressed structure, making it and the surrounding area subject to earthquakes. In late 2005, one such earthquake (magnitude 5.7) — centered in the northwest corner of Jiangxi province, just south of Jiujiang on the Yangtze — killed at least 15 people, injured hundreds, and left several thousand people homeless. It caused tremors into Qichun County in Hubei province and beyond, even reaching the provincial capital of Wuhan.

The range is heavily forested (about 85% coverage) and yields valuable bamboo as well as oak, particularly cork oak, making it China's chief cork-producing area.

The main transportation route across the higher range is from Macheng in Hubei to Huangchuan in Hunan, through the Huai River valley. The main rail and road crossings go north from Wuhan, through the lower elevations.

[edit] Dabie Shan International Forest Park

This scenic park, a key tourist attraction, is in the highest part of the Dabie Shan range. Total area of the park is 300 square kilometers. Located in Hubei province's Luotian County and close to the border with Anhui Province, the park is about 68 kilometers from Luotian town, 140 kilometers from Macheng, 150 kilometers from Huangshi, and 210 kilometers from the Hubei provincial capital, Wuhan.