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.
Kaiyuan City, Tieling City, Liaoning Province, under the jurisdiction of county-level cities, is located in the northeast of Liaoning Province, east of the middle reaches of Liao River, hilly area. As of 2014, Kaiyuan had jurisdiction over 3 streets, 11 towns and 6 townships. As of 2014, the total area of Kaiyuan City is 3164 square kilometers, and as of 2010, the total population of Kaiyuan City is 545600. Kaiyuan is an excellent tourist city in China and one of the birthplaces of Errenzhuan in Northeast China. With abundant rainfall and fertile land, Kaiyuan is a national key grain-producing area and commodity grain base. In 2011, Kaiyuan ranked 76th among the top 100 counties in the country, and ranked among the top 10 in the first national top 100 counties' satisfaction rating. "Ten reform and innovation demonstration counties and cities in China, ten most suitable counties and cities for entrepreneurship, ten counties and cities with the most core competitiveness" and "small and medium-sized cities in China"