Posted 2018/6/9
Jingtai Yellow River Stone Forest National Geopark, one of the third batch of the national geoparks approved by the Ministry of Land and Resources of P.R.C., is located in Longwan Village, Zhongquan Township, Jingtai County, and covers an area of 50 sq km.
The landform was formed, which are made up mainly of yellow-brown gravel of fluviatile facies.
Looking from the terrace standing at the entrance, you see a magnificent landscape of river, stone forest, desert and oasis. It looks even more beautiful when mist lingering on the slopes of the Qilian Mountains on the opposite bank of the Yellow River serves as its backdrop. The sunshine casts the whole valley in dark red, making it appear like the Grand Canyon in the United States.
It was reported that the Yellow River Stone Forest was discovered by a fieldwork team of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources in 1990 and announced to the public in 1996. Due to inconvenient transport, however, it remained beyond tourists’ reach until a road was completed recently.
◆What to See (the Main Attractions)
It is an exquisite combination of the ancient stone forest, the winding streams of the Yellow River, Longwan Oasis, and the Gobi Desert. It is also an association of activity and inertia with still mountains and running rivers. It is regarded as "the Natural Wonder in China" with the tremendous view.
The main stone forest gorge, Yinma Great Gorge provides us with the tour of time and space when and where the ancient Yellow River scoured through the ancient stone forest. The 100 years old small village, Longwan Village, is regarded as the Xanadu for its scenic beauty. The area is a perfect combination of pure nature, grand structure and multi-layers. It is full of original flavor of imposing, dangerous, unique, primitive, wild, and quiet.
◆Traffic Tips
The railways of Baotou-Lanzhou, and Gansu-Wuhan pass through the surrounding areas. Tourists can get off at Jingtai or Zhongwei railway stations and transfer to bus to the geopark.
The scenic area is 100 km from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport. Tourists can take bus from Zhongchuan Airport to downtown Jingtai, and transfer to bus to the destination.
In the scenic area, tourists can select different means of transportation to enter the core area, such as motor boat, sheepskin raft, carriage, horse riding, or car.
