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.
Huimin County is a county under the jurisdiction of Binzhou City, Shandong Province, and it is a county directly under the financial control of Shandong Province. Huimin County is located in the northwest plain of Shandong Province, bordering Yangxin County of Binzhou City to the north, Bincheng District of Binzhou City to the east, Gaoqing County of Zibo City and Zouping County of Binzhou City to the south, and Shanghe County and Jiyang County of Jinan City to the west. By the end of 2013, Huimin County covers an area of 1357 square kilometers, with 12 towns, 3 subdistrict offices, 1 provincial economic development zone, 1163 administrative villages and a population of 650000. In 2016, the annual GDP of Huimin County reached 19.292 billion yuan. Huimin County is the hometown of Sun Wu, a famous military strategist in ancient China. In the area, there are one national 4A tourist scenic spot and three 3A tourist scenic spots, which have been awarded "provincial historical and cultural city" and "national eco-agricultural science and technology exhibition".