Colored danxia mountains, china. The colored rocks of Zhangye Danxia - the colorful mountains of China

You don’t need to fly to another planet to see mountains of incredible color: bright scarlet, intersected by golden stripes, as well as iridescent multi-colored, pink, crimson ...

Such mountains are located in the northwest of China. alien landscape called the Denxia landscape, named after main mountain this geological park.

The name is translated either as "red rays of the sun", or as "pink cloud". Indeed, Mount Denxia and the rocks and hills surrounding it seem to be the creation of the dawn.

The landscape is very varied. When you look at the gentle mountains of the Denxia landscape, they seem to be mounds of multi-colored sand that the baby giant poured: dozens of shades flow into each other in waves! Here the mountains seem not red, but multicolored. In other parts of the geological park, red dominates. Other shades can complement it: for example, raspberry layers alternate with blue, and coral with yellow-gold.

Some mountains of the landscape perfectly reflect its name: various shades of red are collected here by nature - from bright orange to deep red. In the sun's rays, the mountains shimmer, golden threads and multi-colored ribbons are woven into them. It seems that sunrise and sunset have shed their silk robes and thrown them over these mountains!

The stone from which the colored mountains of the Denxia landscape are composed is red sandstone. Geologists believe that the age of this rock is 100 million years.

30 million years ago, the stone oxidized under the influence of climatic factors and acquired a red color.

24 million years ago, tectonic processes began that formed the Himalayas; the same processes mixed red sandstone and other sedimentary rocks in the Denxia Mountain area. This is how layered landscapes appeared, smooth bends of colored ribbons, which now delight tourists from all over the world.

Interestingly, tourists have discovered the Denxia landscape relatively recently. In ancient times, the Silk Road passed through this area, the area was rich, densely populated. But with the fall of the significance of this great trade route the nearest city fell into decay, and the red mountains were forgotten. But then one of the Chinese directors used landscape pictures in his film, and a tourist boom began: humanity learned about another amazing corner of the Earth!

There are many other beauties in this area. There are also man-made ones: ancient steles of emperors, castles in picturesque places. There are also natural rarities: the rarest species of flora, including the Dharma Orchid. This flower is one of the rarest orchids on the planet. When the orchids in the Denxia Mountains begin to bloom, a subtle sweet fragrance fills the air.

Colored Danxia Mountains in China(张掖丹霞 Zhangye Danxia) (Danxia Geological Park) is beautiful place for inspiration and flight of thought. When you get here, you stop realizing where reality ends and a fairy tale begins!

A picturesque canvas opens before your eyes, with a variety of juicy and bright colors. At one moment it may seem that these are not mountains at all, but a bizarre and huge picture of the avant-garde artist.

Coordinates: 38.915550, 100.133200

This geological phenomenon is located in the southeast of China in the city of Zhangye (Gansu Province). The colored Danxia Mountains are considered the main attraction of these places, so local residents are trying to preserve this natural wealth.

Why are Danxia mountains colored?

Scientists claim that the landscape of Danxia was formed during the Mesozoic era and stores petrified plants with the remains of dinosaurs in its structure.

Previously, on the site of the mountains there was a lake into which flowed a large number of number of fast rivers. River flows carried with them sand rich in minerals and clay impurities. All this mass was gradually layered, after which the lake simply dried up.

On the surface of a dried-up reservoir, a lot of sedimentary rocks remained, which include a large amount of metals. Under the influence of erosion, sedimentary rocks have taken various forms, differing in color, structure, size and topography. Over the years, the Danxia Mountains have taken on a landscape of their own, filled with hollows, caves, grottoes, and gullies.

Young mountains have the deepest and narrowest valleys. Depending on how these valleys “wear out” over the years, they tend to expand, and then ridges, ridges and ridges appear in their place. Another feature of Danxia is its many narrow caves, which differ not only in size, but also in their bizarre shapes.

Despite the fact that this is a mountainous landscape, there is still life here. Many grow in the hills rare plants and is home to over 400 animal species.

Now, many millennia later, on the site of a modern geological park, the city of Zhangye has appeared - one of the richest settlements in the country.

Here, against the backdrop of a colorful landscape, once passed "Great Silk Road" which attracted a huge concentration of merchants. But over time, it lost its significance and trade began to fade, as a result of which the city and picturesque landscapes were forgotten.

And only today the colored mountains of Danxia have regained their former fame and popularity.

Danxia Geological Park is very popular among tourists. To get to know the unique mountainous area all conditions are created here: excursions are conducted with an English-speaking guide, bus and hiking, bridges and viewing platforms were erected.

The best time to visit these places is the period from June to September.

Colored Danxia Mountains, China - Video

Well, for those who are too lazy to leave the house, we specially found such a good video tour.

And there is also a black comedy based on the debut film of the Coen brothers. "Woman, gun and noodles", 2009, directed by Zhang Yimou. The movie itself isn't great, but it does have some beautiful outdoor scenes that were filmed in geological park Danxia.

Finally, I would like to note that such a colorful landscape can be found not only in China.

Colored mountains are also widespread in Western America, Australia and Central Europe.

A person usually loves everything colorful. And if the conversation turns to some colorful sights of the world, then all his attention is riveted to them. Whether it is colored lakes or sands of various shades. After a person learns about the colorful lakes of the Kelimutu volcano and the even more colorful sands of Chamarel, he (and you along with him) just needs to learn about the Colored Zhangye rocks Danxia.

In China there is such a curious place where the rocks are painted in countless colors with a predominance of brown and red shades. This miracle of nature is located in the province of Gansu near the town of Zhangye in the northern foothills of the Qilianshan Range. The Colored Mountains are part of the national park of the same name in China. These places were declared a National Park only in November 2011. The area of ​​the park is 510 km2.

Colored rocks of Zhangye Danxia on the map

• Geographic coordinates 38.935951, 100.107614
• The distance from the capital of China, Beijing, is approximately 1400 km.
• Distance to the nearest airport Jiayuguan is about 190 km
• Distance to nearest International Airport Lanzhou District (Zhongchuan) 400 km

Amazing overflows of almost all the colors of the rainbow can be observed on the numerous hills scattered throughout the territory. national park. In general, it is simply impossible to describe this in words. This must be seen with one's own eyes. No wonder tourists from all over the world strive to get into these protected and colorful places. From afar, it seems that the giant artist, who painted long ago mountain scenery, turned out to be upset about something and decided to mix paints on a huge easel, and leave them as a legacy to us.

Well, this is of course the lyrics, in fact, everything is much more prosaic. The rocks here are made up of red sandstone and rocks Cretaceous period. Scientists suggest that about 100 million years ago there was a huge reservoir in these places, in which water caused a myriad of silt.

Further, under the influence of various external factors, the giant pool dried up, and everything that had accumulated at its bottom began to oxidize and acquire such a variety of colors. Time passed, over millions of years a layer of red sandstone about 3700 meters thick was formed, and at the top a layer of 1300 meters is already from the Cretaceous period. Peaks began to form from this layer. Dunxia mountains. We will not go deep into the theory of geology. Let's just say that once again, for the millionth time, the planet surprises us with its inexhaustible imagination.

After the Colored Mountains Zhangye Danxia became known far beyond the borders of China, strings of travelers reached here. The once quiet and sleepy town of Zhangye has become the starting point for hikes to the Colored Mountains. For the convenience of visitors, wooden flooring and stairs were built here.

The guys from UNESCO did not miss this corner either, and added it to the World Heritage List in 2010 (weird why they didn’t do this earlier?).

Colored mountains Zhangye Danxia photo

Danxia Landscape in China, they call a unique type of earth's surface, which is characterized by red sandstones and steep rocks created by nature. Multi-colored mountains in China are found on the territory of several provinces in the southeast and southwestern parts countries. The world famous Danxia landscape is the object world heritage UNESCO.

Danxia landscapes got their name in honor of the eponymous, located in Chinese province Guangdong.

The colorful mountains in China were formed from red sandstones and conglomerates from the Cretaceous period (from about 120 million years ago to about 65 million years ago). They contain many dinosaur fossils and plant remains from that period.

Steep cliffs were formed both due to external influences (erosion, weathering and other forms of influence environment) and internal growth.

Observation deck:

Natural influences, layering on each other, formed patterns of bizarre shapes, reminiscent of sea ​​waves, on every mountain, on every ledge.

Many centuries ago, this place was the richest in China. The Great Silk Road passed through it. But, gradually with the fading of trade in this direction and the emergence of new routes, the province fell into decline. The most beautiful landscape was also forgotten local mountains in China.

It's been a long time and it's unusual place became popular again after the release of the 2009 film directed by Zhang Yimou with the ornate title "A Simple Noodle Story". Although not particularly popular, the film nevertheless rediscovered the beauty of the red sandstone relief to the whole world.

The place experienced its second birth, and caravans of tourists again came here to see the colorful landmark with their own eyes.

The "young" Danxia landscapes have deep and narrow valleys. As such valleys "age", they expand, and isolated peaks, towers and ridges appear on their territory.

Another characteristic feature of the Danxia landscape is the appearance of numerous isolated and narrow caves of various sizes and shapes. Despite the lifelessness, there are many forests in which the most different types plants and animals. 400 species of living organisms in Danxia landscape areas are considered rare or endangered.

In August 2010, six Danxia landscape areas that are in southern China, have been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites under common name"The Danxia Landscape in China". These six districts include Danxia Mountain in Guangdong Province, Lan Mountain in Hunan Province, Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi Province, Jianglang Mountain in Zhejiang Province, Chishui District in Guizhou Province, and Taining in Fujian Province.

You can wander through the colorful mountains, there are special paths here: