Colorful Sand Forest Scenic Area

Ticket Price: ¥100 per ticket; special promotional price: ¥50 per ticket.

A national AAAA-level tourist attraction. It is located in the southeast of Luliang County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province. You can drive directly to the scenic area from the county seat along the Qujing-Luliang Expressway towards Zhaokua. It is 18 kilometers away from the county seat. A comprehensive tourist resort integrating sightseeing, tourism, conferences, leisure and vacation, it opened to the public in 1988 and was rated as an AAAA-level tourist attraction by the China National Tourism Administration in 2001.

Covering an area of 25 square kilometers, with a core area of 6 square kilometers. According to expert research, as early as 340 million years ago, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau was a vast ocean, and only Niutou Mountain in Luliang emerged from the water, forming an ancient landmass. During the Cenozoic Era, 67 million years ago, influenced by the Himalayan tectonic movement, the sea level dropped and the beaches rose, forming a huge sand beach dominated by colored sandstone. After long-term evolution under sunlight, wind and rain erosion, it has finally become a rare natural wonder in the world and unique in China, crafted by nature’s uncanny workmanship. It holds high value for scientific investigation and geographical research.

The entire Colorful Sand Forest Scenic Area is Y-shaped, featuring more than 100 unique landscapes formed by its rare sand groups, peaks, pillars, beaches and caves. Varying in seasons, climates, light intensity and sunlight angles, it displays over ten colors including red, yellow, white, cyan, gray, purple, blue and black, creating natural spectacles of diverse hues. It embodies the characteristics of "novelty, richness, uniqueness, elegance, fun, splendor and variability". As the saying goes: "The sand forest is colorful, mountains and rivers are beautiful, a natural wonder, unparalleled under heaven." This is a true portrayal of the sand forest.

Yunnan’s "Three Forests" each have distinct features. If the Stone Forest in Lunan is known for its ever-changing shapes and the Earth Forest in Yuanmou for its desolate and solemn beauty, then the Colorful Sand Forest in Luliang combines both. It sparks imagination and leaves visitors in awe, hence experts hail it as "unparalleled under heaven". A treasure bestowed by nature upon humanity, it offers activities such as horse riding, sedan chair rides, chariot rides, speedboat rides, listening to ancient Cuan music, enjoying ethnic song and dance, dining on ancient battlefield soldiers’ meals, and participating in diverse entertainments for a unique sightseeing experience.

Since 2001, the Colorful Sand Forest has successfully hosted five consecutive sessions of the world’s pioneering and only International Colorful Sand Sculpture Festival & Competition, with themes of "Millennium Dream", "Journey to Classics", "Charm of Five Continents", "Musical Splendor" and "Cuan Culture Style". Attracting numerous tourists, it has become one of the world’s seven major sand sculpture competition bases.

Its main attractions include the Southern Barbarian Dry Gate, Back-Prophecy Diagram, General Gate, Cuan Culture Relief, Barbarian Army Guards, Barbarian King’s Expedition, Thirty-Six Stratagems Cave, Cuan Girl Awaiting Her Husband, Scholar Examining Rankings, One-Line Sky, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, Oath of the Peach Garden, Zhou Tian Cave, Four Seasons Valley, Spring Bamboo Shoots Emerging, and the Sand Sculpture Competition Zone, totaling over 100 scenic spots