aeeble

Xindian has two Lion’s Head Mountains. One, called Shizitou Mountain, sits at the headwaters of the Huangku Creek on the border between Xindian and Sanxia; it is a first-order triangulation point on the southern edge of greater Taipei. The other Lion’s Head Mountain stands beside Bitan; hikers call it Little Lion Mountain. Little Lion Mountain, like Shilin’s Zhishanyan, has been protected since the Qing dynasty and the Japanese era, so tall trees are everywhere and the original forest’s character and quiet remain intact. Beside the trail a towering buttress-rooted banyon rises in perfect form; on a Philippines banyan, an “apartment” of epiphytes and vines looks like a living painting. Left of the Meihua Lion Pavilion, the path is lined with tree roots clasping stones. Lion’s Head Mountain lies in the Nangang Formation between the Bitan and Xindian faults; the strata are steep or overturned, so the trail is flanked by upright beds of thick sandstone and moss-covered boulders. The mountain is a chain of five peaks, three of them connected by a ridge; each peak has a pavilion for rest.