Global Network of National Geoparks

Experts from UNESCO conducted an appraisal for Mountain Longhushan

Source :Source: www.globalgeopark.org Published :August 23, 2007

Mountain Longhushan is seeking UNESCO's recognition as a geopark under the Global Network of Geoparks. Two experts from UNESCO came to Mountain Longhushan from August 21 to August 24, 2007, to conduct an appraisal.

The mountain has been famous for its fairy land of Danxia landform, Taoism Center and Ancient Cliff Tombs. The Ministry of Land and Resources of China officially declared Mountain Longhushan as a geopark, on March, 2001, making it the first group of national geopark.

Mountain Longhushan (Dragon-Tiger Mountain) Geopark is located in both Yingtan City and Yiyang County of the northeast Jiangxi Province, China. Stretching in the NE-trend like a strap as a whole, the geopark has a length of 64.5km from northeast to southwest and a width of 9 to 45.5 km from northwest to southeast. It consists of Longhushan Area, Guifeng Area and Xiangshan Area and covers a total area of 996.63 km2.

As a comprehensive geopark, Longhushan Geopark is composed of mainly Danxia landforms, and partially volcanic rock as well as tectonic landscapes. Rock forming Danxia landscapes is red clastic rock formed in the Late Cretaceous Epoch dated back to 65 million years ago. Under long-term fracturing, water current erosion and weathering, among the rocks, the strong turned to be peaks and the weak valleys so that it successively brought about Danxia beautiful sceneries such as mesas, peak clusters and peak forests with flat tops and steep faces, peak clusters and peak forests with round tops, and isolated peaks and remnant hills seen at present in the geopark. It developed a complete series of Danxia landforms including the young, the mature and the aged landscapes, of which especially the mature is the most principal and the late mature is the most typical. In the geopark, those which belong to the most precious scenic spots on earth includes Old Man Peak, Fairy Maiden Rock, the Celestial Water Rock mesa with round tops and peak forest, Trunk Mountain, and so on.