“Abundant geological heritage sites, splendid landscapes, varieties of biological species, favourable environment and plentiful historic culture”

Located in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, Qinling Zhongnanshan UNESCO Global Geopark, covering a total area of 1,074.85km², includes Cuihuashan, Nanwutai, Zhuque, Taiping, Huaqing Palace, Heihe, Wangshunshan and Lantian Ape Man site, boasting geological sites of Qinling Orogenic Belt, the Quaternary, the geomorphology and the heritages of Homo erectus. Situated in the major portion of the collision juncture between the north and south continental plates of China, the geopark serves as a part of natural boundary dividing the China’s territory into the north and south regions different in geology, geography, ecology, climate, environment and culture. Since August 2009, Qinling Zhongnanshan Geopark has topped the list under Global Geopark Network upon approval by UNESCO, upgrading into the first global geopark in northwest China.

Cuihuashan
It conserves the most complete mountain collapse-slide relics ranking first in China and third throughout the world in terms of its scale, thus being awarded as a “Mountain Collapse-slide Museum”. Complete types of landslide landscapes, large scale in collapse-slide, featured forms of collapsed rocks in both individual and combinations as well as typical structure of migmatite, all contribute to Cuihuashan scenic area as a nature-endowed rare geological relic.

Nanwutai
The Nanwutai scenic area is characterized by Buddhist culture. It consists of two main scenic groups which are the Wutai granite scenic group and the Shengshou Temple scenic group. It presents the scenery of grey medium-grained granite, gneissic granite, ductile shear zone and fault mud.

Zhuque
It is composed by the periglacial landform of quaternary period, cliffs, forest and other natural landscape. The main geological relics are freeze-thaw weathering fossil sea, mortar, cliffs and so on. In the cold weather conditions, the powerful physical weathering effect allowed the rock through numerous times of expansion and contraction, resulting in the formation of freeze-thaw stones with different sizes, and angular clear, piling together in a disorganized form like a stone ocean. The Qinling International Juvenile Geoscience Campsite is a comprehensive campsite for research-learning travel, forest adventure and parent-child activities.

Taiping
The Taiping scenic area consists of four landscape groups: the Huangyangba with waterfall, the Shimen migmatite, the Yuegongtan canyon and the primeval forest. It was a recreation place for imperial family in summer during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It presents the scenery of palaeoproterozoic migmatite, rock veins, erosion valleys of river, waterfalls and primeval forest.

Huaqing Palace
It presents the geological heritage which includes geotherm, escarpment, shattered fault zone, fault breccia and cataclasite, stratigraphic sections of the Neogene and the Quaternary system, the Proterozoic polymictic conglomerate, the Jurassic fluvial conglomerate and unconformity plane. The Lishan hill started up-warping in the late of the Yanshanian period, forming an isolated horst-block mountain in the Weihe graben. In the neotectonic period, the whole Lishan block uplifted at northward up-warping and southward down-warping, forming a block with an appearance higher in north and lower in south.

Heihe
The Heihe scenic area is characterized not only by the Quaternary glacial morphological heritage, natural alpine meadow and virgin forest, but also by canyons with clear streams formed by tectonic heritage of plate junction in the acrogenic zone, relics of old plank roads and scenic spots showing humanistic cultural heritage bequeathed from some famous talents in ancient times. Located in Heihe, the Qinling Nature School is funded by the WWF with various natural experience activities. It’s an important venue of the geopark to conduct nature education.

Wangshunshan
The Wangshunshan Mt. was nominated from a story about Wang Shun who buried his mother by carrying soil on shoulder-pole from farther places. The highest peak is the Yuhuang Peak which has an altitude of 2,239m. The major geomorphologic landscapes include granite with different textures, xenolith, granite peaks and ridges, spheroidal weathering, vertical joints and waterfall along escarpment.

Lantian Ape Man Site
It was found from 1963 to 1964 by institution of ancient animal and human of Chinese Academy of Science. The earliest found jawbone fossil of Homo erectus is 600,000 to 650,000 years old, and the brain box fossil found in Gongwangling is 1.1 to 1.15 Ma years old by ancient physiognomy. A lot of mammal fossils unearthed with Lantian ape man fossil, were defined as Lantian and Gongwangling fauna. At the same time, a great number of stone tools of palaeolith were found. In 1982, the Lantian Ape Man Site was declared as the national second level important protection unit.