Hunan · Rock Towers Standing in Rice Fields
Langshan (崀山)
The peak-forest version of Danxia terrain: dozens of slender rounded towers rather than a few big cliffs, in a corner of southern Hunan where people farm the flat ground between them.
Quick Facts
The Short Version
| What it is | A dense cluster of rounded red sandstone towers in worked countryside, and one of the six sites on the China Danxia world heritage listing |
|---|---|
| Where | Xinning County, in the south of Hunan, about four hours from Changsha |
| The difference | Peak-forest Danxia: many narrow towers close together, rather than the broad flat-topped cliffs of Mount Danxia |
| Main features | Bajiaozhai, Chilli Peak, Camel Peak, the General Stone, and a natural rock bridge |
| Listed | Part of the China Danxia inscription of 2010 |
| How you see it | Paths and stairs between the towers, with a via ferrata on one of them for those who want it |
| Who goes | Almost entirely domestic visitors. Very little English on site |
| Time needed | A full day for the main areas. Two to do it without rushing |
Why Go
The Version With People Living In It
1. Many towers, not a few cliffs
Danxia terrain comes in several forms depending on how closely the rock is jointed and how long erosion has worked on it. At Mount Danxia in Guangdong the blocks are large and you get broad flat-topped hills with sheer sides. Here the joints are much closer together, so the same process has cut the rock into dozens of separate towers, narrow and rounded and standing shoulder to shoulder.
The result reads as a stone forest rather than a set of mountains. Paths run between the towers instead of up them, and the scale is intimate: you are among the rock rather than looking across at it, which is a different experience from either of the other Danxia sites on this site.
2. It is farmland with rocks in it
What is unusual here, and what the photographs on this page show, is that this is not a reserve with a fence around it. The flat ground between the towers is rice paddy and maize, villages of whitewashed houses sit at the foot of the cliffs, and field boundaries run right up to the rock.
That gives the place a quality the more managed sites have lost. The towers are not a view arranged for you; they are what the people who farm here have always had at the end of their fields. It also means the visit involves walking past other people’s work, which is worth remembering when choosing where to stand.
The catch. It is remote and it is almost entirely set up for domestic visitors. Getting here from Changsha takes most of a morning, signage and information in English are close to nonexistent, and the scenic-area shuttle system assumes you already know how it works. This is a rewarding place to go with a guide or some Chinese, and a frustrating one without either.
Orientation
Several Areas, One Shuttle
The site is divided into separate areas several kilometres apart, linked by a shuttle from a central visitor centre. Bajiaozhai, with the long ridge walk, and the Chilli Peak area, with the towers at close range, are the two most people do.
Each area is a half day if walked properly, which is why two days is the honest answer for seeing the site rather than sampling it. With one day, pick one area and do it well.
Practical
Things Worth Knowing
Bring some Chinese, or a guide
English signage is minimal and the shuttle system is not obvious. Nothing else you decide will change the day here as much.
Pick one area if you have one day
The shuttle rides between areas eat the day. Doing one properly beats seeing three from the bus.
Stay in Xinning
The county town is small and basic and it is much better than commuting from anywhere else.
The paths are stairs
Lots of them, often narrow and cut between towers. Wet stone in a humid climate, as everywhere in this landform.
Timing
When to Go
| Season | The case for | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| April to June | Paddies flooded and then green, which is when the contrast with the rock is strongest | Hunan spring rain, and mist can hide the towers for days |
| September to October | Dry, clear, and the rice going gold in the fields below the towers | The first week of October is the national holiday |
| July to August | Everything open and the vegetation at full growth | Hot and very humid, with little shade on the ridge walks |
| November to March | Quiet, bare and clear, with the rock shapes at their most legible | Cold and damp, and some facilities run reduced hours |
Context
Six Sites, One Listing
The China Danxia world heritage inscription of 2010 covers six separate places: this one, Mount Danxia in Guangdong, Mount Longhu in Jiangxi, Mount Jianglang in Zhejiang, Taining in Fujian and Chishui in Guizhou. They were nominated together because no single one of them shows the full range of what the landform does.
Read as a set, they are a sequence of erosion stages. Chishui is young, with the red beds barely cut into; Mount Danxia is mature, with big blocks and sheer walls; Langshan is further along, with the blocks reduced to separate towers; and at the late end the towers themselves are worn down to isolated stumps.
That is why the listing is worth knowing about even if you only visit one of them. The famous striped hills at Zhangye in Gansu are not among the six, and the reason is on our Mount Danxia page: they are the right rock in the wrong shape.
Nearby
Other Stops on the Same Trip
Spot · 270 km southeast
Mount Danxia (丹霞山)
The type site in Guangdong, where the landform was named. Bigger blocks, broader cliffs.
Spot · 250 km east
Dongjiang Lake (东江湖)
The reservoir in southern Hunan known for the mist that sits on it in the early morning.
Spot · 640 km northeast
Mount Longhu (龙虎山)
The Jiangxi site, with a river raft and a Daoist complex alongside the same landform.
Where to Base
Changsha (长沙)
Changsha is the gateway. There is a fast-train station at Shaoyang with a bus onward, or you can drive the whole way in about four hours. Either way it is most of a morning.
Because of that, this works badly as a day trip and well as two nights in Xinning, which also gets you the early light in the fields.
Experiences
What You Can Actually Do Here
On site · half day
Bajiaozhai
The ridge walk with the towers below on both sides, which is where the site opens out.
On site · half day
Chilli Peak and the towers
Paths between the towers at close range, plus the via ferrata for anyone who wants it.
Guided · 4 days
Three Danxia sites
Mount Danxia, Mount Longhu and this one, which shows the landform at three stages and in three settings.
Worth two days if you are already interested in the landform, and probably not worth the journey if you are not. Go with a guide or some Chinese, pick one area and walk it properly, and pay attention to the fields: the thing that makes this site different from the other Danxia sites is that people are still farming between the towers.
Plan the Danxia Sites as a Route
Tell us your dates and what you are after, and our local team will build the route: Changsha in, two nights at Xinning with a guide who can work the shuttle system, and the other Danxia sites if you want the full sequence.