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| Danxia topography, named after Danxia Mountain in Guangdong Province,os created by the collapsing and weathering of red sandstone and conglomerate. | Danxia Mountain, located in Renhua County, Guangdong Province, with its walls and
tiers of red rocks and cliffs, like danxia(red rays of the sun), from which its name derives, has been compared to a ruby sculpture park. It IS known as "China's Red Stone Park."
That Danxia Mountain is special has been known for many years. Early in the 1930s, the late geologist and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Chen Guoda, after a thorough study of the red stone mountain regions of South China, gave the name danxia to this kind of topography, of which Danxia Mountain had the most classic features. Fellow academics accepted the concept, which became popular in the field of geography. Over the past 70 odd years, China's geologist and geographers have identified 715 danxia landforms in China(according to the latest statistics from Professor Huang Jin), Danxia geomorphology has developed into a subdiscipline of geomorphology and Danxla l Mountain has become China's research base for danXia landforms.
Defined in narrow terms, Danxia Mountain goes as far as Zhanglao(Elder)Peak, Hailuo (Conch)Peak and Baozhu(Pearl)Peak in the north. Defined more broadly, it
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The Yangyuan (Male Organ) Rock are among the many rocks on Danxia mountain resembling human organs and figures. | covers a mountainous area of 290 square kilometers(180 of which are of typical danxia topography), composed of red stones, and called Danxia Mountain Geopark. Located in a basin south of the Nanling mountain range, the park encompasses four scenic areas of Danxia Mountain in the north. Shaoshiin the southeast. Bazhai in the west and Jinjiang River in the central area. There are over 400 rock peaks, rock castles, rock walls and rock bridges of various sizes, standing in graceful disorder in the geopark.
Bazhai Peak at 618 meters above sea level. is Danxia Mountain's highest peak, which is not high in mountain terms, but all the peaks are formed of sheer and perilous cliffs, many of them hundreds of meters high, rising straight from the plain or riverbank, full of power and grandeur.
These steep red cliffs, most of them too precipitous to climb, are the symbols of Danxia Mountain. Even today. only a few cliff paths are available for visitors, and only
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| Rock and Yinyuan (Female organ) Rock are among the many rocks on Danxia mountain resembling human organs and figures. | a few of the summits may be climbed. However, mountain Daths and fortifications left by the ancients are often seen on the 400-odd hilltops. The present cliff paths have been built on the foundation of ancient paths and plank roads. They have been widened and fitted with railings, but they still take your breath away.
Danxia Mountain is full of scenic wondersĄcurious mountains, cliffs, stones, caves, natural bridges and valleys...all simply incredible. The mountains are noted for their different shapes...a sequence of castles, cones, walls, pillars, and pagodas. Especially in the morning mist or above a sea of clouds. you feel as if you are part of a mirage or in a fairyland jeweled palace. Some resemble human figures in different postures, others look like birds or beasts; but all are Nature's masterpieces. They include the Yangyuan(Male Organ)Rock, famed as the "Most Curious Rock in the World, "and the honeycomb front of the Longlin(Dragon Scale) Stone in the Jinshi Cave, whose colors differ with the seasons. There are bryophytes living in the small holes of the honeycomb and the more water they absorb, the greener they become. The Yangyuan Rock, Yinyuan(Female Organ)Rock, Wangfu(Longing for Husband to Return)Rock and Longlin Rock are regarded as the "Four Beauties of Danxia Mountain."
As a rule of thumb, the mountains of north China are grand, and those of south China are delicate. But Danxia Mountain is both grand and delicate, combining the characteristics of northern and Southern mountains. The mountain is covered with sub-tropical evergreen forest, lush and green all the year round. Originating in the immense forest of Nanling, the graceful Jinjiang River winds its way through the mountain, enhancing the landscape. The fiver looks like a superb wine flowing out of the forest, with watery reflections of bamboo. trees and rocks. a rural landscape full of the feel of the south, a landscape no whit less beautiful than that of Guilin.
Danxia Mountain is a place of towering cliffs and deep valleys that are home to verdant trees and limpid springs. Walking on the forest trails, one enjoys a feeling of detachment and seclusion, SO it is an ideal place for those who want to cultivate their mind and develop their characters. Since the Sui(581-618)and Tang(61 8-907) dynasties, Danxia Mountain has been a magnet for visitors, drawing countless literati to make exquisite engravings on cliffs and steles, and monks and priests to build temples. So far, more than 40 cave temple sites have been found, including the newly reconstructed Biechuan Temple and the carved temple in Jinshiyan Cliff.
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| The fascinating mushroom-like formation is the result of weathering of different rock strata; they are not classic danxia formations, but do add interest. |
Danxia landform's rock walls and cliffs are formed of red sandstone and conglomerate. How did Danxia Mountain come into being? Research shows that about 100 million years ago, there used to be a huge inland basin here. Water carried silt from the surrounding mountains to the basin. As the result of global high temperatures the basin dried up and in these arid conditions the sediment oxidized and turned rust color. Then some 70 million years ago a 3700-meter-thick red-colored layer formed on the basin, known as the chalk bed. On the top, there was a 1300 meter-thick solid layer, i.e.,layer of Cretaceous system, from which the peaks of Danxia Mountain gradually took shape.
Since 30 million years ago, orogenic movement has lifted the whole basin many times. Water flowing down through fissures cut through and eroded the sedimentary rock, the slope broke and receded, 1eaving behind the red fragmentary rocks we see now-danxia landforms. According to expels, orogenic movement is still going on in the Danxia Mountain area, with an average rise of 0.87 meter every 10,000 years over the last 500, 000 years. Beautiful Danxia Mountain is still growing.
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