The Zhaixia Grand Canyon is located in the Zhaixia village which is 15 km away from the western of the Taining county. The canyon found in June, 2004 is a famous scenic area in Taining world geology park. It is a natural geological museum. The canyon is connected by three canyons, assumes the ring and triangle shape. It seams a golden dragon lieing in hills, so it was named Gold dragon canyon. They are formed primarily by three geology function such as water erosion, gravity avalanche, tectonic movement. The experts of UNESCO said it is an example of the world geology park. Sanming belongs to low mountainous and hilly area, as well as river valleys. The main land of the city can be divided into several types, including fluvial landform, Danxia landform, karst landform and some other trivial landforms. Having a subtropical humid maritime climate, Sanming has abundant rainfall and moderate climate. It is affected greatly by maritime monsoon. Its rainy season may last from March to September, and October to February is the dry season. The average temperature of a year is about 17-19C(63-66F).The city is favorable for visiting all the year round.

When you enter the canyon ,the first feeling is cool, the luxuriant vegetation and the sufficient water source is the best natural air conditioning. Both sides are clliff, the sunlight is rare, the canyon is approximate in a seal condition. Various alleys and streets spread across the canyon which is like a labyrinth. "landslide and ground fissure": the ground fissure is a narrow alley which o-nly arrows o-ne person to pass through. It is formed because of the split of the mountain for million years. The landslide is a giant red cliff just like a high and huge stele. "space and time tunnel": in th tunnel, you can see and touch two geological rock layer which are separated in time by 300,000,000 years at the same time.One is the Dan rosy cloud landform which is formed 80,000,000 years ago, and another is the metamorphic rock which is formed in 400,000,000 years ago.The Yanxi lake is in the bottom of Dan cliff canyon. There are green bamboo and forests around the lake , and the water in the lake is cool and limpid.

The Scenic Zone of Ganlu Rock is situated in the northeast of the scenic area of Golden Lake. Here, red cliffs, rock holes and caves develop on a wide range of area, where the Rock Holes & Caves Museum lies. In the caves, there are a number of temples of different styles. Integrating rock holes, caves and temple culture, the scenic zone consists of two scenic spots Tiantai Rock and Ganlu Rock. Uniquely constructed, Ganlu Rock Temple lies in the cave of Ganlu Rock that is narrow inside while wide open outside. The spring water oozing from the rock layers in the temple is clear, sweet and cool like manna, and is called Dragon Spring, hence the name Ganlu (literally manna). Rock Temple was wholly constructed with wood, connected with T-shape, negative tilts without a single iron nail used.

Admission: 40 yuan per person , the fee of tour guide is 5 yuan
Tips
The Zhaixia grand canyon is a good place to watch the Danxia landform, and it is also the first geological preliminary examination route of Taining county. The whole line is divided into three scetions which has their own respective characteristics.