The Zhangye National Geopark () is located in Sunan and Linze counties within the prefecture-level city of

Zhangye Zhangye (), formerly romanized as Changyeh or known as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It borders Inner Mongolia on the north and Qinghai on the south. Its central district is Ga ...

, in

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

, China. It covers an area of . The site became a quasi-national geopark on April 23, 2012 (provisional name: Zhangye Danxia Geopark). It was formally designated as "Zhangye National Geopark" by the Ministry of Land and Resources on June 16, 2016 after it has passed the on-site acceptance test. Known for its colorful rock formations, it has been voted by Chinese media outlets as one of the most beautiful landforms in China. It is not a UNESCO world heritage site.

Location

Striated rocks in Zhangye National Geopark

The park is located in the northern foothills of the

Qilian Mountains The Qilian Mountains (, also romanized as Tsilien; Mongghul: Chileb), together with the Altyn-Tagh (Altun Shan) also known as Nan Shan (, literally "Southern Mountains"), as it is to the south of Hexi Corridor, is a northern outlier of the Kunl ...

, in the counties of Linze and Sunan, which are under the administration of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

of Zhangye, Gansu province. The main areas of

Danxia landform The Danxia landform () refers to various landscapes found in southeast, southwest and northwest China that "consist of a red bed characterized by steep cliffs". It is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology found in China. Danxia landform ...

are in Kangle and Baiyin townships. The core area of the park, Linze Danxia Scenic Area, is located west of downtown Zhangye and south of the seat of Linze County. It is the most developed and most visited part of the park. A second scenic area, Binggou (), located on the north bank of Liyuan River (), was officially inaugurated on 3 August 2014. Binggou covers an area of , and its elevation ranges from 1,500 to 2,500 meters above sea level. A third area, Sunan Danxia Scenic Area, is located in Ganjun, south of Linze.

Landscape

Colorful strata (Zhangye National Geopark)

Zhangye Danxia is known for the unusual colours of the rocks, which are smooth, sharp and several hundred meters tall. They are the result of deposits of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and other minerals that occurred over 24 million years. The result (similar to a

layer cake A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for lay ...

), was tilted by the action of the same tectonic plates responsible for creating parts of the

Himalayan mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. Wind, rain, and time then sculpted extraordinary shapes, including towers, pillars, and ravines, with varying colours, patterns, and sizes.

Media and tourism

In 2005, Zhangye Danxia was voted by a panel of reporters from 34 major media outlets as one of the most beautiful Danxia landform areas in China. In 2009, ''

Chinese National Geography ''Chinese National Geography'' () is a Chinese monthly magazine similar to the ''National Geographic Magazine''. Founded in 1949 in China, the magazine has revamped itself several times, and is now a popular magazine in mainland China. There is ...

'' magazine chose Zhangye Danxia as one of the "six most beautiful landforms" in China. The area has become a top tourist attraction for Zhangye. A series of boardwalks and access roads have been built to help visitors to explore the rock formations. In 2014, 100 million yuan was invested to improve the facilities in the Binggou area. Zhangye Danxia is featured as a natural wonder in the video game ''

Sid Meier's Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliz ...

''. It was added in the "Rise and Fall" expansion.

Gallery

Buildings in Zhangye National Geopark.jpg Flickr image 29851221553.jpg Flickr image 30483606125.jpg Colourful mountains of the Zhangye National Geopark.jpg

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Zhangye Danxia Geopark on TripAdvisor
{{Gansu topics Geoparks in China Parks in Gansu Zhangye Danxia landform