Mangshan (莽山) sits at the southern tip of Yizhang County in Chenzhou, on the line where Hunan meets Guangdong, and takes its name from the pythons that were once common there and from the dense forest that covers it. It holds one of the largest stretches of primeval forest found at this latitude, a place the sources call a green pearl and a gene bank of plants and animals. Within it stand a national forest park and a national nature reserve, and the mountain is the type locality for several species: the Mangshan pit viper and the Mangshan horned toad were described to science from specimens collected here. At the mountain's edge sits Mangshan Yao Ethnic Township, where Yao villagers live beside the reserve. The forest is at once a protected wilderness and a working landscape for the people who border it.
Mangshan holds one of the largest primeval forests at its latitude on the Hunan-Guangdong border. The Mangshan pit viper and horned toad were described to science from specimens collected here, and Yao villagers live beside the park and reserve.