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.
The suburb, which belongs to Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, is located in the eastern part of Shanxi Province and at the western foot of the middle part of Taihang Mountain. It is located at latitude 37 °47 "38 °05" north and longitude 113 °19 "113 °43 'east. It is connected with Pingding County in the east and south, Shouyang County in the west and Yu County in the north, and surrounds the urban area and mining area of Yangquan City. The suburbs have jurisdiction over 4 towns and 4 townships, with a total area of 616.89 square kilometers and a resident population of 237000 (2012). In 2012, the GDP of suburban areas was 7.16589 billion yuan, an increase of 9.7% over 2011. The suburbs have the earliest existing tourist attractions such as the Guanwang Temple in Yuquan Mountain in the Song Dynasty, the Silver Garden Villa in the Qing Dynasty, and the former residence of the famous modern female writer Shi Pingmei.