[Photo/ fjta.com]

Taining Global Geopark lies in Taining County at the foot of the southeast side of the Wuyi Mountains. Found with large areas of red coarse-grained terrestrial elastic sedimentary rock formed in the late Cretaceous period around 65 million years ago, the park is a large geo-park of Danxia landform distinguishing itself among over 650 such landforms in the world for its full development and diversities, as well as its unique landscape and various historic and cultural sights. Here in the geo-park, rivers, valleys, caves, mountains, as well as granite rocks are set in perfect harmony with lakes, forests, temples and ancient relics, making it an ideal place for geological research, sightseeing, and vacationing.

[Photo/ fjta.com]

It covers an area of 492 square kilometers, including a 215.2-square-kilometer basin of elastic sedimentary rock formed in the Cretaceous period, the largest one along China's southeast coast. The park consists of five parts, the Shiwang Valley, the Golden Lake, the Eight-fairy Cliff, the Jin'rao Mountain and Taining Ancient Town. Professor Zhao Xun with the Ministry of Land and Resources, who shows a keen interest in the park, once proclaimed by writing a rhyming couplet that Taining geopark is his favorite among all the 650 such landforms worldwide.

[Photo/ fjta.com]

The Danxia landform is part of the geological fault zone along Fujian's Shaowu to Guangdong's Heyuan. The Jinlong Valley is a highlight in this zone. It was formed as an early stage of the Danxia landform in the late Cretaceous period. Influenced by the rock nature around the basin, most of the gravel here belongs to metamorphic rock, and is easy to deposit as a result of river alleviation to form alluvial fans.

Over millions of years, nature has endowed the park with unique Danxia landform, featuring the Danxia caves, gorges, rivers and mountains. As an old saying goes, "Man is conditioned by the natural environment he lives in." The Danxia landform here has integrated with the Chinese culture such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, folk housing and funeral customs to form a unique Danxia Cave Culture, Scholar Culture, Cave Dwelling Culture, and Cave Funeral Culture. So, while enjoying the scenery of Danxia landform, you can also experience the unique Cave Culture here.