Although not as high as the Himalayas, the mountains of traditional China possess an extraordinary beauty and richness of character that make them equally impressive – and just as evocative. Some, like the limestone pinnacles and granite peaks of the south, hang poised over rivers and plains in such incredible shapes of delicate rock that they look as if they could only exist in a Chinese landscape painting where the laws of gravity need not apply. Others, such as the imposing massif of Tai Shan in the east, stand as monuments of ancient stone, made venerable by ages of erosion. On the border with North Korea rises the highest peak in northern China – Changbai Shan, an extinct volcano with an enormous caldera embracing the sacred waters of Heaven Lake.