Langshan

Langshan was inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as part of the China Danxia serial listing, a landscape of red sandstone eroded into free-standing pillars, walls and rounded domes across a green valley. Two formations carry the site: Lazhu Peak, a column of some three hundred metres that the local name calls the candle, and Jiangjun Rock; and the Tianyi Alley, a cleft between two rock faces running three hundred metres with a gap narrowing to under half a metre in places, walked sideways. A river winds through the valley and is rafted. The formations are climbed on stairways with cliff walkways, and cloud regularly fills the valley below the peaks.

What you actually see

• Lazhu Peak - the three-hundred-metre red pillar dominating the valley.
• Tianyi Alley - a three-hundred-metre cleft narrowing to half a metre.
• The Danxia domes - rounded red formations across the landscape.
• The valley river - the winding water rafted between the peaks.

When to go

April to June and September to November; summer is hot and humid, winter cool with occasional closures for ice. The narrow alley is uncomfortable in crowds and best walked early.

Honest expectations

Internal shuttle buses are compulsory and charged. Tianyi Alley is a genuine squeeze and unsuitable for larger visitors or claustrophobia. The site is remote, closer to Guilin than to Changsha in practice.

Nearby

Guilin lies southwest across the provincial border; Shaoyang is northeast.