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.
Xinxiang County, which belongs to Xinxiang City, Henan Province, is located in the north and middle of Henan Province, the southern foot of Taihang Mountain and the upper reaches of Weihe River. It is connected with Yanjin in the east, Huojia in the west, Yuanyang in the south, and the east, south and west of Xinxiang in the north. Xinxiang County has a history of more than 1400 years since the Sui Dynasty established the county six years ago. In 1958, Chairman Mao Zedong personally visited Xinxiang County, and party and state leaders Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Wu Bangguo, and Wen Jiabao also visited Xinxiang County one after another. Xinxiang County has jurisdiction over 6 towns, 1 township and 1 provincial economic development zone, 178 administrative villages, with a resident population of 350000 (2016) and a county area of 375square kilometers. In 2017, Xinxiang County achieved a GDP of 21 billion yuan. In March 2019, it was listed as the first batch of revolutionary cultural relics for protection and utilization.