Danxiashan

Danxiashan, in the north of Guangdong province, is the place that gives its name to a whole type of landform. The term danxia, "rosy clouds", designates in China the landscapes developed on red continental terrigenous sedimentary beds, shaped by the combination of endogenous forces — principally tectonic uplift — and exogenous ones — weathering and erosion. The result is spectacular red crags and a range of erosional forms that includes natural pillars, towers, ravines, valleys and waterfalls. Danxiashan is the type locality of that geomorphological model and the place where it was scientifically defined.

The massif extends between 58 and 625 metres in altitude, a modest range that contrasts with the sheerness of its walls. Its formation began in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, when tectonic pressure from the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Yangtze plate folded the south-eastern Chinese belt and created the basins in which the red sandstones now exposed were laid down. On its ledges and in its ravines, the roughness of the relief has protected subtropical broadleaved evergreen forests, with a notable flora and fauna.

Danxiashan forms part of the serial property China Danxia, inscribed on the World Heritage List in August 2010 alongside Chishui, Taining, Langshan, Longhushan and Jianglangshan, six components spread along an arc of some 1,700 kilometres from Guizhou to Zhejiang. Across the property as a whole, some 400 plant and animal species considered rare or threatened have been counted, and IUCN noted in its assessment that, while the boundaries protect the aesthetic and geological values well, further efforts are needed to safeguard the biodiversity values. Several components of the property, Danxiashan among them, are also UNESCO Global Geoparks.