Ta-pieh Mountains,Wade–Giles romanization Dabie MountainsChinese (Pinyin) Dabie Shan or (Wade-Giles romanization) Ta-pieh Shan, Pinyin Dabie Shan, mountain range in central China. It has Aligned roughly along a roughly northwest-to-southeast axis, which forms the Dabie Mountains form the watershed between the upper Huai River and the Yangtze River rivers and also marks mark the boundary between Hupeh Hubei province to the south and its eastern and northern neighbours, the provinces of Honan and AnhweiHenan and Anhui provinces to the north and east. The name Ta-pieh Dabie Mountains properly belongs only to the higher, southeastern , higher section of the range bordering Anhweialong the Anhui-Hubei border, but the term is often used to include the northwestward extension, to the west of Kuang-shui in HupehGuangshui (in Hubei), which is properly called the T’ung-pai Tongbai Mountains. The ranges together are sometimes known in Western literature the West as the Huai-yang Huaiyang Mountains.

The average elevation of the western half of the range is only 1,000–1,300 feet (300–400 mmetres), with a few peaks at the extreme western end of the range reaching 3,000 feet (900 mmetres). The southeastern end of the range, the Ta-pieh Dabie Mountains proper, forms a much more complex and formidable barrier, averaging more than 3,300 feet (1,000 mmetres) in height. Its highest peak, Mount Huo, reaches 5,820 feet (1,774 mmetres), and several others exceed 5,000 feet (1,500 mmetres). Three of the ridges there extend into the Huai plain and merge into the Hua-yang Huayang Ridge, which forms a the watershed of low hills between the upper Huai River and the Yangtze.

The area has a complex structure. The general fold axis of the Ta-pieh Dabie Mountains, running northwest to southeast, represents represent the eastward end of the great Qin (Tsinling) Mountains. The secondary axes of the southeastern ridges are connected with the major structures of the area south of the Yangtze. As a result of the Tectonic stresses between these various structures, mountain blocks subject the area is liable to frequent earthquakes.

The Ta-pieh Dabie complex is still largely forested and produces great quantities of timber and bamboo. Its large stands of oak and cork oak make it China’s chief cork-producing area. Large quantities of high-quality teas are also grown in the area. The main areas of agriculture are Agriculture is mostly limited to valleys and small mountain basins.

The main route across the Ta-pieh Dabie Mountains proper is from Ma-ch’eng in Hupeh to Huang-ch’uan in Honan in Macheng (in Hubei) to Huangchuan in the Huai River valley (in Henan). Further Farther west the main railway railroad and highway north from Wu-han (Han-k’ou) south from Wuhan cross by relatively easy passes.