China Hits UNESCO Jackpot

Eight landscapes, including the well-known Huangshan Mountain in Anhui and Stone Forest in Yunnan, have been included in a list of worldwide geoparks

By DING WENLEI

On February 13, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the first list of geoparks in the world. Among the 28 recognized, eight can be found in China.

PRIMITIVE BEAUTY: Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest

The eight listed geoparks in China are: Lushan (mountain) in Jiangxi Province, Stone Forest in Yunnan Province, Danxia Shan (mountain) in Guangdong Province, Yuntai Shan and Songshan (mountains) in Henan Province, Huangshan (mountain) in Anhui Province, Wudalianchi Volcanoes in Heilongjiang Province and Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest in Hunan.

Geopark, which is short for geological park, is an international program created by the UNESCO referring to territories that encompass one or more sites of scientific importance, not only for geological reasons but also for its archaeological, ecological or cultural values.

Since 1999, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources officially launched the geopark program in China, with the support from the UNESCO. The Geological Society of China played an active role in the efforts setting up national geopark standards, an evaluation system of, or criteria for, construction and management of the parks.

China has approved 85 national geoparks to date.

All the eight Chinese parks on the UNESCO list satisfy the criteria mentioned in the guidelines hammered out by the organization’s advisory and expert group in May 2002, including geo-scientific value, popularization of geosciences, protection of geo-heritages, restoration of geo-environment, social communication, education, job opportunity and local sustainable development.

Local authorities in charge of the parks expect the listing will bring a tourism boom and an increasing number of visitors from both home and abroad.

Zheng Tongyang, Director of the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province, where Danxia Shan Geopark is located, said the UNESCO’s accreditation will boost tourism in not only the park itself but also the province as a whole.

China’s UNESCO-Listed Geoparks

Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest: Primitive Beauty

Located in the western part of Hunan Province in central China, the Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest National Geopark is known for its quartzose sandstone, covering an area of 3,600 square km.

HEAVEN ON EARTH: Huangshan

Still subject to natural processes like erosion and rock collapse and, depending on the duration of exposure and the age of its fissures, the sandstone assumes a variety of forms such as hills, walls, pillars, gates and natural bridges.

Altogether, there are more than 3,000 sandstone peaks, of which over 1,000 are higher than 200 meters. At the top of the peaks stand pine and ginkgo trees with an exuberant growth of branches and leaves and twisted roots just like a large potted landscape.

The area offers picturesque verdant hills, clear waters, crisscrossed gullies and a wide variety of flora and fauna making it an attractive place to spend the holidays or make a stop while touring China.

Lushan: Philosopher’s Refuge

History, culture, forests and religion are all elements that make a geopark: the Lushan Mountain National Geopark has them all.

Covering an area of 500 square km, Lushan Mountain National Geopark is situated in north Jiangxi Province in east China. It sits to the east of Poyang Lake extending all the way to the Yangtze River.

The park, characterized by towering peaks, mild climate, lush flowers and trees, rolling torrents of water, deep pools and tumbling waterfalls, is one of China’s most famed summer resorts and tourist attractions.

In the 1930s, Professor J. S. Lee identified the quaternary glacier sections there. The sections are well preserved and glacier evidence is clearly discernible.

Old dwellings and pavilions nestled in the mountains are an added attraction. Bailudong Academy where philosophers of 1,000 years ago pondered is now an important cultural relic of Lushan Mountain.

Danxia Shan: Sea of Red Clouds

Situated northeast of Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, the Danxia Mountain National Geopark covers an area of 290 square km.

“Danxia” (red clouds) acquired its namesake from the special landform it characterizes. Danxia Mountain is composed of cliff rock walls of red terrestrial sandstones and conglomerates. There are more than 380 peaks of various shapes in Danxia Mountain. The vertical rock walls and cliffs look like clustered rosy clouds.

Danxia Mountain is a wonderful natural artistic work. Some peak combinations assemble themselves as an ancient castle and other isolated stone pillars are lifelike, mimicking various animal and human figures.

The whole mountain is covered with subtropical evergreen forests. The Jinjiang River wanders southward through the park. The inverted reflections of the burning red peaks on the serene surrounding water attract countless tourists from both China and other countries.

Huangshan: Heaven on Earth

Huangshan Mountain, imbued with a granite forest, was approved to be a national geopark in 2001 and recommended as a candidate for a world geopark in 2003.

Located in south Anhui Province, grand and steep mountains frame this geopark with 72 peaks towering over 1,000 meters high.

The park features lofty peculiar peaks, green straight pines, jagged rocks with garbled shapes, protruding out of a sea of clouds. Many warm springs gush here and there as well.

Around Tiandu Peak and the Beihai Scenic Area, the existence of quaternary ice sheets has been famous debate for over half a century, a luring mystery of the geopark.

When UNESCO experts visited Huangshan Mountain they said it’s like wandering around heaven on earth.

Songshan: Museum of Geological History

Located in north Henan Province in central China, the Songshan Mountain National Geopark covers an area of 450 square km.

GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM: Songshan

This geopark is dubbed a “museum of geological history” because it preserves complete outcrops of stratigraphic sections formed during five geologic times. Distinguishable boundaries of angular unconformities formed by three Precambrian tectonic movements have been preserved.

Songshan is also distinguished as a place where three major religions in China—Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism—converge. Historical and religious remains such as Buddhist temples and pagodas, Taoist temples and ancient academies of classical learning scatter in the deep forest. Roaming about the forest, tourists can hear drumbeats or tolls of ancient bells now and then.

The geological and cultural sites form a delightful contrast, making the area both a gorgeous as well as educational tourist attraction.

Yuntai Shan: Famous for Steepness

The Yuntai Mountain, situated near Jiaozuo, is another geopark in Henan Province. The major geological features of this geopark are its cuesta, flying waterfalls on fault-ridden cliffs, quiet valleys and clear springs.

The heavy erosion has made the landform very tattered with many deep canyons and steep cliffs.

Wudalianchi Volcanoes: World of Igneous Rocks

Located in Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, the Wudalianchi Volcanoes National Geopark covers an area of 1,060 square km and is composed of 14 intact recently formed volcanoes.

Lava flows stretch for as far as over 10 km, thus damming the surrounding rivers to create five lakes that luxuriously spread out like a string of pearls.

Lava in this area assumes various forms such as exhalation vents, cones, dishes, lava tunnels, volcanic bombs and traveled stones. Even rope-like columns and twisted rods of lava remain intact there.

The geopark is also renown for its plentiful mineral springs with purported medicinal value.

Stone Forest National Geopark: Karst Landscape

Located in Yunnan Province in southwest China, the Stone Forest National Geopark is known for its various karst formations.

The rainwater-corroded thick massive carbonate rocks form various karst creations such as stone teeth, corroded gullies, corroded funnels, karst caves and dissolution basins.

The geopark has spawned a stone forest ranging 20 to 50 meter in height. The stones vary in postures from looking like swords, pagodas and mushrooms to resembling human figures and animals like an elephant.

People of the Yi minority ethnic group inhabit the area. Ancient rock paintings and stone inscriptions in ancient Yi characters have been discovered in many places here. Visitors can observe the folk customs and local culture while enjoying meandering through the labyrinth of stone trunks.