Shiniuzhai National Geological Park or Pingjiang Shiniuzhai Geopark (石牛寨) is located in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

, in Pingjiang County. It is 46 km away from the nearest city of Pingjiang. Shi Nui Zhai is 523 meters above sea level, and occupies a radius of more than 10 square kilometres. It is one of the

protected areas of China This is a list of the nationally-designated protected areas of China. There are many forms of protected areas in China. Based on their relative importance, each type of protected area can be further graded into two to three levels (national, prov ...

Shiniuzhai National Geological Park

History

The origins of the name Shi Niu Zhai come from the boulder that resembles a cattle in the west part of the park. Shi Nui Zhai used to be an important place for military affairs. According to a historian in the western province, Shi Niu Zhai is the last remaining

shanzhai ''Shanzhai'' () is a Chinese term literally meaning "mountain fortress" or "mountain camp", whose contemporary use usually encompasses counterfeit, imitation, or parody products and events and the subculture surrounding them. ''Shanzhai'' produc ...

of the 48 in Liuyang.

Geography

Shi Niu Zhai is a national park that is made up of mainly

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 ...

- red bed characterised by steep cliffs.

Tourism

The 3 main attractions of Shiniuzhai includes Ten Miles Cliff (十里绝壁), Hundred Miles Danxia (百里丹霞) and Brave Men's Bridge (高空玻璃桥). The Ten Miles cliff is located at the center of the park, is one of China's biggest Danxia cliffs. The Hundred Miles Danxia is located at the peak of Shi Nui Zhai where one can see the entire landscape of many other Danxia Peaks.

Attractions

Shi Nui Zhai Park has developed many tourist attractions activities. It has one of the steepest cable car in China; highest and longest suspension bridge in Hunan, the Brave Men's Bridge; Asia's longest zipline.

Brave Men's Bridge

The Brave Men's Bridge () is a glass suspension bridge that is 300 meters long, elevated at a height of 180 meter above ground. It spans across two cliffs at 540 meters above sea level The bridge's body is made up of 2 main steel wires and 6 base steel wires with wooden planks as base. It is the first high altitude glass bottomed bridge built in China. The bridge was originally made of wood but converted to glass in 2014. The new glass bottom was made using glass panes 24mm thick and 25 times the strength of normal glass panels. The origin of the name Brave Men's Bridge is passed down from word of mouth that anyone that is able to cross the fearsome bridge is a true brave man.

Ten Miles Cliff

The Ten Miles Cliff is a cliff located in the Shiniuzhai National Geological park. On the cliff, there is man-made plank structures built to serve as walking paths for the tourist.

References

{{coords, 28, 54, N, 113, 58, E, display=title Yueyang Protected areas of China