Visitors are beguiled by the terrain of feverish danxia and tranquil verdure in Chishui. [China Daily]

The breathtaking sunrise over Loushanguan Pass in northwestern Guizhou province.

Cross a suspension bridge, and you'll transport yourself into a world where salt merchants used to relax. They still serve tea with a panoramic view of the river. They still cook on the street for big occasions when every family comes out to help.

Fuxing used to be the old downtown. So many merchants lived here that those from Jiangxi province decided to build a hall complete with a stage.

Up the street a few restaurants serve "whitewater fish", a local delicacy.

The local government likes to call the place "China's Jurassic Park".

It wouldn't be kind to lump humans and animals together when we talk about dinosaurs.

But this immense territory is luxuriant and relatively unadulterated by human intervention.

One feels small in this terrain of feverish danxia and tranquil verdure, traversed by ribbons of water.

(China Daily September 27, 2009)