UNESCO Geopark Mt. Danxia is located at the northern end of Guangdong province, spanning 290km 2 .  The Danxiashan National Geopark is the place ¡°the Danxia Landform¡± is named after. It is characterized by the Cretaceous red terrestrial sandstones and conglomerates in a variety of forms, such as stone peak, stone castle and precipice, looking like human figures or exotic birds and beasts. It is a National Scenic Spot, National Natural Protection Zone for Geology and Geomorphology in China, Grade AAAA National Tourist Spot, and National Geological Park of China. Mt. Danxia was awarded the title as a UNESCO Geopark by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 13 th Feburary 2004.
The Mt. Danxia area was originally a huge inland basin between 0.14 billion years and 70 million years ago. There was severe uplifting of the area around the basin which resulted in the development of the deep red bed on the basin. 70 million years ago, the red bed was gradually eroded because of the earth's crust uplifting. Finally, a group of red mountains took shape out of the red bed, which is what we call Mt. Danxia at present times.
It is also a base for the Danxia landform research, scientific education, and practice teaching worldwide. The scenic area contains more than 680 stone hills, stonewalls, stone pillar and natural bridges of various size, and more than 380 peaks of various shapes with the tallest standing at 409 metres high. The whole mountain area is also covered by the sub-tropic evergreen forest with a beautiful Jinjiang river wandering southward in the Geopark. |
