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.
Xingwen County, which belongs to Yibin City, Sichuan Province, is located in the southeast of Yibin City, adjacent to Xuyong County in the southeast, Weixin County in Yunnan Province in the south, Gong County in the west, Changning in the northwest, and Naxi District in Jiang'an and Luzhou City in the north, with a total area of 1379.89 square kilometers. Xingwen County has a long history and is the place where the ancient Han people thrived and finally died out. The county with the largest population of Miao people in Sichuan Province is the main birthplace of the early revolution in southern Sichuan and the route of the Red Army northward to resist Japan. Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou border region of the Red Army guerrilla column of the main origin and transfer places, rich national culture, red culture, local culture and customs, has left Yang Shengan inscription and Zhu de poems. It has national key scenic spots, World Geopark and National AAAA tourist scenic spot-- "Xingwen Shihai". Its core scenic spot is very large in the world.