The birthplace of Chinese civilization:

Since the Old Stone Age, approximately 1.15 million years ago, ancient humans (Homo erectus Lantian subspecies) thrived at the foot of Qinling Zhongnanshan, leaving behind precious historic sites such as Gongwangling and Chenjiawo Village. Lantian Ape Man is the fossil of Homo erectus discovered in China, second only to Yuanmou Ape Man (1.7-1.8 million years ago), and is one of the representatives of Late Ape Man. The fossil of the Lantian ape skull is 1.15 million years old and is found at Gongwangling in the Wangshunshan Scenic Area. The production layer is the lower part of the Middle Pleistocene Xiehu Formation, and the lithology is light yellow loess like sandy clay. The area is adjacent to the Bahe River and is a belt shaped ridge that closely follows the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains. The southeastern end of the Bahe River penetrates deep into the Qinling Mountains, while the northwestern end leads to the Weihe River graben plain. The superior geographical conditions make it easy to obtain water and food, making it suitable for the survival of apes and humans. The mandible fossil of Lantian ape man was found in Chenjiawo, with an age of 600,000-700,000 years. Up to now, more than 200 types of stone tools have been discovered at the Lantian Ape Man Site in Gongwangling, including scrapers, chopping and smashing tools, pointed tools, and stone fragments and balls with usage marks.

Religious Holy Land:

Xi’an, located at the foot of Zhongnanshan, was a concentration, fusion, and dissemination place of Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam in ancient China. The Zhongnanshan area of the Qinling Mountains was once a gathering and blending place of Central Plain culture and foreign cultures in history. Among the strange peaks, quiet streams, and vast forests, there are numerous cultural attractions scattered, especially those related to religion. This place, with extremely rich geological tourism resources, adds a sense of religious and cultural solemnity and mystery to the dynamic natural landscape. Numerous religious sects have established their ancestral temples in the Zhongnanshan area and spread their concepts nationwide, which have made Zhongnanshan the most famous mountain with the most religious ancestral temples. Buddhism has eight major branches, four of which have their ancestral temples in Zhongnanshan. There are many ancient temples in the geopark, such as Zizhulin Temple, Cuihuashan Temple, Laojun Temple, Jieshantai, etc, which still have a lot of visitors after thousands of years.

Buddhist Temple

Protecting Historical Relics:

The Tangluo Ancient Road in the geopark was opened during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty. It starts from Luoyukou in Zhouzhi in the north and ends at Tangyukou in Yangxian in the south. It has high research value in military, geography, transportation, archaeology, and other fields; the Sanyi Temple, also known as the Wansheng Temple, was built during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. The temple was named after the three sworn brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. It is the earliest memorial site for worker uprisings in Chinese history; the Millennium Magnolia King, with the tree age of over 1,200 years, the height of 27 m and the perimeter of about 5.3 m, cannot be hugged by three people. The tree crown is about 1,100 m2 and can cover nearly 1,333 m2 under the tree. It is the largest Magnolia tree discovered in China so far; the evergreen broad-leaved Iron Armor Divine Tree is Gaoshan Quercus with its wood as hard as iron, which is rare in the world and has a tree age of nearly a thousand years. The tree is 21 m tall, with a perimeter of 4.35 m and a crown of 27 m2. The trunk is thick and straight, and the crown is large and abundant. The geopark is a great place for citizens to relax and escape the summer heat and also the main habitat of the national treasure giant pandas.

The Millennium Magnolia King

Frequent Literary and Artistic Activities:

The geopark has held diverse literary and artistic activities, such as Cuihua Reading Room Forum, Zhongnan Cultural Festival, Creating Art Center, Launching New Book Release Conference, Red Leaf Photography Festival, Poetry and Song Recitation, Online Music Concert and Summer Qinling Prose Competition etc.

Promoting traditional Chinese festivals:

Based on the rich cultural heritage, the geopark has carried out a series of cultural activities during various festivals such as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival and Lantern festival etc.

Dragon Boat Festival Activities