Mount Satseto, known in Chinese as the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (simplified Chinese: 玉龙雪山; traditional Chinese: 玉龍雪山; pinyin: Yùlóngxuě Shān) is a mountain massif (also identified as a small mountain range) near Lijiang, in Yunnan province, southwestern China. Its highest peak is named Shanzidou (扇子陡) (5,596 m or 18,360 ft). The view of the massif from the gardens at the Black Dragon Pool (Heilong Tan) in Lijiang is noted as one of China's finest views[citation needed]. The far side of the mountain forms one side of Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia).
Shanzidou has been climbed only once, on May 8, 1987, by an American expedition. The summit team comprised Phil Peralta-Ramos and Eric Perlman. They climbed snow gullies and limestone headwalls, and encountered high avalanche danger and sparse opportunities for protection. They rated the maximum technical difficulty of the rock at YDS 5.7.
The Austro-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock spent many years living in the vicinity of Mt Satseto, and wrote about the region and the Nakhi people who occupy it. An interest in Rock later drew the travel writer Bruce Chatwin to the mountain, which he wrote about in an article that appeared in the New York Times and later, retitled, in his essay collection What Am I Doing Here?. Chatwin's article inspired many subsequent travellers, including Michael Palin, to visit the region.
