Mount Tianzhu is located in the mountainous region of western Qianshan City, under the jurisdiction of Anqing City, Anhui Province. It is also known by various other names, including Mount Qian, Mount Wan, Mount Wangong (from which the abbreviation for Anhui Province, "Wan," is derived), Mount Wansui, and Mount Wan. It forms an eastern extension—or a spur—of the Dabie Mountain Range. In 2008, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping determined its elevation to be 1,489.8 meters.
Mount Tianzhu features an ultra-high-pressure metamorphic belt—the only one of its kind in China and the most extensively exposed and deepest-reaching such belt globally. Geologists have hailed its landscape, characterized by massive rockfalls and piled-up boulders, as the most beautiful granite terrain in the world; it is also referred to as a "leaker of Earth's secrets." Writers have described it as a "forest of peaks" and a "palace of stone." In September 2011, it was officially designated a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Renowned for its unique natural scenery, Mount Tianzhu is recognized as one of the three most famous mountains in Anhui Province (alongside Mount Huangshan and Mount Jiuhua). As early as the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was designated as the "Southern Sacred Mountain" (Nan Yue), and it has been a site of human activity throughout successive dynasties. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been developed into the Anqing Mount Tianzhu Scenic Area, earning numerous accolades, including designation as a National-level Key Scenic Area, a National Natural and Cultural Heritage Site, a National Forest Park, and a National AAAAA-rated Tourist Attraction.