60 pieces · NaturePhoto by 颐园新居, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A cloud inversion seen from Shixin Peak ('Beginning-to-Believe Peak') in the Huangshan range, Anhui Province, China, its granite pinnacles and wind-bent pines rising above the clouds.
PuzzleBeat
Sea of Clouds, Huangshan
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Sea of Clouds, Huangshan
Huangshan — the Yellow Mountains — rises in southern Anhui Province, China, a range of granite peaks that has shaped Chinese landscape painting and poetry for over a thousand years. The mountain's name dates to 747 CE, when a Tang-dynasty emperor renamed it in honour of Huangdi, the legendary Yellow Emperor said to have ascended to immortality there. UNESCO inscribed Huangshan as a World Heritage Site in 1990, citing both its scenery and its long cultural association with Chinese art.
This photograph was taken from Shixin Peak — 'Beginning-to-Believe Peak,' named for visitors who doubted the mountain's reputation until they stood on it — on a November morning in 2014, when a cloud inversion filled the valleys below the summit. Huangshan is traditionally known for its 'Four Wonders': oddly shaped granite peaks, wind-bent pines rooted straight into bare rock, natural hot springs, and this sea-of-clouds effect, which forms when warm, moist air settles into the valleys beneath a cooler, clearer summit.
The puzzle sorts into clear bands: a flat grey-white sky, a soft fog layer with almost no texture, and the hard black silhouettes of pines and jagged granite ridgelines along the right edge. Build the sky and cloud bank first — they're the easiest pieces to place by elimination — then work the peak outlines inward, where the shapes get more specific and the puzzle gets more interesting.
How to play
- Tap Play Sea of Clouds, Huangshan puzzle to open the puzzle board, then choose your piece count and difficulty.
- Drag pieces from the tray onto the board and snap them into place until the full image is complete. Works with mouse on desktop and touch on mobile.
- Use the Preview button on the play screen to peek at the full reference image whenever you need a hint.
- When you finish, check your solve time on the completion screen and share it with friends to see who can beat your record.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is Huangshan and what does its name mean?
- Huangshan (the 'Yellow Mountains') is a granite mountain range in southern Anhui Province, China. It was renamed in 747 CE by a Tang-dynasty emperor in honour of Huangdi, the legendary Yellow Emperor, who according to legend attained immortality on the mountain.
- What is a Huangshan 'sea of clouds'?
- It's a cloud inversion: warm, moist air settles into the valleys below Huangshan's summits while the peaks themselves stay above the cloud layer in clear air, so granite pinnacles and pine-covered ridges appear to float on a sea of white. The effect is a well-known seasonal sight at the mountain, though it depends on weather and isn't guaranteed on any given day.
- What are the 'Four Wonders' of Huangshan?
- Huangshan is traditionally celebrated for four features: its oddly shaped granite peaks, its wind-bent pine trees rooted directly into bare rock, its natural hot springs, and its sea-of-clouds cloud inversions — the phenomenon shown in this photograph.
- Where exactly was this photo taken?
- From Shixin Peak, or 'Beginning-to-Believe Peak' — one of Huangshan's well-known viewpoints, named for visitors who reportedly doubted the mountain's famous scenery until they saw it for themselves from the summit.