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.
Lintao County, known as Didao in ancient times, belongs to Dingxi City, Gansu Province, and gets its name because of the Tao River in the territory. Lintao County is located in the middle of Gansu Province and the west of Dingxi City. It is located in the confluence zone of the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Tao River, the largest tributary in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, passes through the city. As of October 2018, the county has a total area of 2851 square kilometers and a total population of 552900. There are 21 ethnic groups, including Han, Hui and Dongxiang, under the jurisdiction of 12 towns and 6 townships, with the county government stationed in Taoyang Town. Lintao has been a famous city in the northwest and an important town in Longyou since ancient times. it is located on the main road of the ancient Silk Road and is one of the important birthplaces of the ancient culture of the Yellow River. Since the establishment of Didao County in the 18th year of King Zhou'an (384 BC) and the establishment of Longxi County in the 27th year of King Zhao of Qin Dynasty (280 BC), it has been a county, state, state, government and county government.