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.
Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County belongs to Fushun City, Liaoning Province, and is located in the eastern mountain area of Liaoning Province, bordering Meihekou City, Jilin Province. It is the eastern gate of Liaoning Province and belongs to the junction zone of four cities and seven counties. It is bordered by Dongfeng County, Meihekou City and Liuhe County in Jilin Province in the east, Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County in the south, Fushun County and Tieling County in the west, and Xifeng County and Kaiyuan City in the north. The geographical coordinates are 124 °2006 "- 125 °28058" east and 41 °470052 "- 42 °280025" north. The total area of the county is 3932.96 square kilometers. By 2010, Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County had jurisdiction over 9 towns and 5 townships, with a total population of 336169, including Manchu, Han, Korean, Hui, Mongolian and Xibe.