Flaming mountains, also known as “Red Mountain”, is located in the north of Turpan in China’s northwest Xinjiang Region. The average height is 1640ft (500m), while the highest peak is around 2726 ft (831m). It is the hottest place in China with the highest temperature around 48 dC (118 dF).
It became very popular due to a classical Chinese novel, The Journey to the West by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) writer, Wu Cheng En, and its charming hero, the Monkey King. It is described that the Monkey King stirred up trouble in Heaven and kicked off the oven for making immortal pills. Charcoals fell from the sky to where the Flaming Mountain now lies. Therefore, the mountain is hot throughout the year. Hundreds of years later, when the Monkey King escorted his master, Tang Sanzang (a famous Chinese monk in Tang Dynasty 618 - 907), to acquire Buddhist scriptures in the Western Paradise, they were interrupted by the mountain. So the Monkey King borrowed a magic palm-leaf fan to stop the flame in order to pass the mountain safe and sound.
