Sanchuan Earth Forest

The Sanchuan Earth Forest sits on the foot of Swallow Mountain, between Zhaizi Village and Guojiawan Village of Xingwen Village Committee, 3 kilometres south of Qiaotou River. It is 12 kilometres away from Yongsheng County seat.

When you walk into Guojiawan Village, poplars, Chinese toon trees and green leafy trees form a thick canopy, and green bamboo groves sway luxuriantly. Farmhouses are tucked away among dense woods and bamboo. Pale blue cooking smoke curls up from the rooftops and drifts through the groves like thin mist. A ten-minute walk along the country path leads you to the earth forest.

At the entrance of the gully, various clay formations unfold before your eyes. Some are delicate and slender just like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil; others stand lofty and ancient, resembling towering palace pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes. Some look like perching eagles, some like gaping crocodiles, some like monkeys sitting upright, some like monks sitting in meditation reciting scriptures, some like ancients wearing traditional scholar hats, some like soaring rockets, pagodas and castles. The formations take countless shapes, forming a spectacular landscape.

The shapes change dramatically when viewed from different angles. Looking upward from the bottom of the gully, the towering clay pillars pierce the sky, like sages seated high above. Looking down from the surrounding hillsides, you feel as if you are overlooking an underground palace. Every perspective brings a new image, firing up visitors’ imagination. Pine trees, bamboo, old vines, grass, mountain birds and colourful butterflies surround the earth forest, filling the place with vitality just like a fairy tale wonderland.

Who carved this fantastic natural landscape covering more than 60 mu with such superb craftsmanship? Folklore holds that the earth forest took shape after the magnitude-8 earthquake that struck Yongsheng in the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty (1511 AD). Locals name this gully "Monk Clay Gully". It lies on a slope of 80 degrees. Earthquakes created fissures here. Centuries of soil erosion and weathering washed away loose sediment, leaving behind hard clay and rock, which gradually evolved into this unique landform.

More than 500 metres east of the earth forest lies another scenic wonder—the Moon Fields. These farm plots are laid out strictly following the waxing and waning of the moon. The centre is shaped like a full moon, flanked by the first quarter and last quarter moons, covering every lunar phase from new moon to full moon and back again. The layout is incredibly vivid and amazing. Seen from the mountain top, the Moon Fields together with the surrounding mountain ridges form a huge Taiji diagram: the mountain ridges represent Yang while the farmland stands for Yin, a stunning natural masterpiece. The Moon Fields and the earth forest belong to the same scenic area. Green trees surround the scenic spot all year round with beautiful scenery. Especially in warm spring, peach blossoms bloom all over the hills, alongside tender mulberry leaves, tall old Chinese toon trees and dark green bamboo groves. Bougainvillea blossoms on courtyard walls and in yards decorate the whole area into a fairyland.