Zhangye Danxia photography

Colorful Danxia in Zhangye is picturesque.

Zhangye is located in the vast northwest of Gansu and the middle section of Hexi Corridor, where the ancient Silk Road passes. Zhangye has a long history, profound cultural accumulation and rich products, and enjoys the reputation of "Golden Zhangye". Zhangye County, one of the four counties in Hexi in ancient times, was named after the meaning of "breaking the Xiongnu's arm and opening China". There is a saying in an ancient poem: "If you don't look at the snow in Qilian Mountain, you will mistake Ganzhou for Jiangnan."

Zhangye has vast deserts, spectacular glaciers, towering snow peaks, vast Gobi, picturesque oases and dense virgin forests. There are lush grassland pastures, magical and quiet deep mountain canyons, rare birds and animals haunt here, wild flowers and wild fruits grow here, and the strange peaks and rocks are unique and amazing.

Colorful Danxia was rated as one of the seven most beautiful Danxia landforms in China. Director Zhang's film location chose the colorful Danxia landform of Zhangye, and the colorful mountain landform suddenly stirred my heart: amazing! What a shock! She has always touched my heart deeply and triggered my impulse to shoot at once. So, several photographers discussed it, hit it off and drove to Zhangye to witness the magical and dazzling world.

In the embrace of Danxia landform, the wind turns slowly in this mysterious castle, and the thin mist follows you through the deep valley. There must be more beauty hidden in her body, which arouses people's desire to explore secrets and makes people have endless reverie and nostalgia.

Danxia refers to isolated peaks and steep rocks formed by long-term weathering and stripping of red gravel rocks and erosion by flowing water. The Danxia landform here developed in the horizontal or gently inclined red strata from pre-Jurassic to Tertiary.

Colorful Danxia landform is the most typical Danxia landform in the arid area of China, which combines the strangeness, danger and beauty of the cliff pillars of Danxia Mountain in Guangdong and the colorful cities in Xinjiang. Its majestic, vast area, strange shape, colorful and highly ornamental value are rare in the world, and it is really a wonderful flower of nature.

The formation of colorful Danxia is said to have a beautiful legend, which is related to Nu Wa Niangniang's refining stone to make up the sky. In ancient times, Gong Gong and Zhuan Xu fought an earth-shattering war for the emperor. The sky was dark, the landslide sank, the sun, the moon and the stars shifted, the celestial column was broken, and a hole was opened in the western sky, which led to the flooding of the sky. Nu Wa came to West Kunlun, collected colorful stone from all directions, ground it into powder with divine power, mixed it with manna from Kunlun Mountain, and then began to fill the cave.

In the paradise of the west, there is a demon named Mo Yan, who has a snake-like body and a lion-like head, and is ferocious and terrible. He heard that the beautiful Nu Wa came to mend the sky, coveted Nu Wa's beauty, had evil thoughts, and turned into a young man to help. Nu Wa saw through his trick and earnestly advised him to practice hard and strive for early enlightenment. Angry, she wanted to confront Nu Wa head-on, but her magic was not as good as her own, so she secretly used black magic to blow colorful stone powder all over the mountains. When Nu Wa woke up, she was surprised to see the colorful Qilian Mountains at sunrise, which was particularly dazzling. On closer inspection, the multicolored powder disappeared, and she immediately thought it was the devil's party. Nu Wa used a little magic to reunite the colored powder, but some of them have attached to the mountain, dyeing the mountain with brilliant colors.

In order to prevent the devil from continuing to make trouble, she arranged for two maids to take turns on duty. A maid named Zhao Xia and a sunset glow, according to Nu Wa's instructions, did their duty, helping Nu Wa to repair the hole in the sky day and night. However, Sunglow and Sunset died in Qilian because of overwork. After their death, they turned into a glow, which set each other off in the morning and evening, giving Qilian Mountain a magical glow. This is the colorful Danxia they saw.

This is just a legend. The formation of colorful Danxia is actually a long-term evolution process of nature. In the long geological age, after long-term weathering and erosion, coupled with different lithology and temperature differences, all kinds of rocks in Qilian Mountain show different colors under light. Iron rocks are red, manganese rocks are black, argillaceous rocks are gray, phosphorus rocks are gray-blue, volcanic rocks are orange-yellow, gravel rocks are blue, and mountains naturally show different colors.

Nature's uncanny workmanship is often amazing. At sunset, I stood on a high place overlooking Danxia, enjoying the beautiful scenery in front of me, intoxicated in the dreamlike realm. At this moment, I seem to have entered a mythical world, with colorful stripes in front of me, such as red, blue, light green, light yellow … people are eager to move. If you look closely, the colorful stripes are different. The stripes on this side are horizontal, like colored waves rushing into the distance layer by layer, while the stripes on the other side are vertical, like colorful tapestries falling from the sky.

Along the mountain, these stripes set each other off, so bright and beautiful in the sun. Danxia in the morning light is soft and clear, full of aura; Danxia in the dusk is full and heavy, and her feelings are deep and affectionate. Being in this dreamlike and colorful world is the only way to truly experience the charm of Danxia.

The beauty of Danxia is difficult for any painting master to describe thoroughly. The perfect combination of point, line, surface and color block constitutes a moving picture. The flowing crimson texture is like the skin of the earth. In the ups and downs, the shadows formed by folds are displayed like various techniques of landscape painting. It is not surprising that the criss-crossing stone forests are as mysterious and breathtaking as palaces and castles, impacting your vision.

The vast Danxia landform makes you feel the pulse of the earth beating and the blood flowing. That kind of desolation and magnificence embodies the unique charm and momentum of the west. It is this kind of visual wonder that makes me press the shutter again and again to share happiness between the mountains and valleys of Danxia, in the search for the magnificent western landscape and in the pious walk that inspires me.