A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike plateau, whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term mesa applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as tablelands.
Baofeng County is located in the central and western part of Henan Province, belonging to Pingdingshan City, with a total area of 722 square kilometers, 8 towns, 4 townships, 1 office and 1 forest station, 327 administrative villages, with a total population of 517000 (2013). Xuanhe two years of the Northern Song Dynasty (1120), because the territory is rich in mineral resources, treasure Xingfa, treasure source abundant, Fengchi given the name Baofeng County. Baofeng County is "the hometown of Chinese Quyi", "the hometown of Magic" and "the hometown of Folk Culture and Art". It is one of the eight experimental areas for cultural reform and development in Henan Province. at the same time, it is also "national health county", "national garden county seat" and "provincial civilized county seat". In Baofeng County, there are Xiangshan Temple, the birthplace of Guanyin culture, the ruins of Ruguanyao of Qingliang Temple, the founding place of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, the former residence of Professor Cui Qi, the Nobel laureate, and the "Baofeng Conference" of Liu and Deng's army.