Shidu Scenic Spot, in western Beijing’s Fangshan district has just been crowned a national geological park and now is to bid for Beijing's first world geological park listed by UNESCO.

It will be established under the name Western Beijing Karst World Geological Park.

The Shidu Scenic Spot is located in the middle-upper stream of the Juma and Dashi rivers, 100 km away from central Beijing.

There are ten river bends along this segment of the river, on each of which a ferry crossing was set up. Hence the name Shidu or "ten ferry crossings" in Chinese.

Shidu is the only natural scenic spot in north China that is characterized by karst rock formations. Karst canyons include the Juma River canyon, Dashi River valley, Baili Gorge in Yesanpo that stretches for a hundred km, and Longmenxia granite canyon.

Karst peaks cover dozens of square kilometers. Karst caves such as the Shihua, Yinhu, Yunshui, Xianqi, Longxian and Yugu Caves abound.

Moreover, the site is home to cultural relics of ancient human beings such as Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site and the wise man fossil at Beibian Bridge. In recent years, underground water caves were also discovered in the Shangfang and Da'an Mountains.

(Chinanew.cn March 30, 2005)