Lumen Mountain scenic area, located in Dongjin new town, 15 kilometers away from Xiangyang city in central China’s Hubei province, is a national forest park, a key provincial cultural relic protection unit and a national 3A scenic spot.

Lumen Mountain was formerly called Suling Mountain, and it became known because Pang Degong, a scholar in the eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), and Meng Haoran and Pi Rixiu, famous poets in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), lived as hermits in the area.

In addition, famous Buddhist monks were also abbots in Lumen Temple, and references to the mountain can be found in poems. It is also referred to as the "holy mountain" of Xiangyang.

Local authorities aim to establish the tourist brand of Lumen Mountain, and they are set to merge the scenic area with other districts in Xiangyang, including the old town, Xianshan mountain, Fancheng and the high-tech zone, in order to build an urban cultural recreation area.

The authorities started to create the Lumen Mountain Scenic Area in 2010, with an investment of $ 500 million from a Hong Kong company, and they hope to transform it into a national 5A scenic spot.

A total of 190 million yuan ($ 31 million) has already been invested in the scenic area, and several projects, such as Meng Haoran Memorial Hall, have been completed.

The planned projects include a sports ecological park, a forest and lake, Lumen film base and modern agriculture park.

The authorities hope the scenic area will allow Lumen Mountain to become a symbol of Xiangyang and that it will also be a tourist attraction.

Edited by Niva Whyman