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.
Xiping is located in the central and southern part of Henan Province, bordering Yuanhui District of Luohe City in the north, Zhumadian City in the south, Shangcai County in the east, and Wugang City in Pingdingshan City in the west. 300 kilometers south of Wuhan and 130 kilometers north of Xinzheng International Airport, it is located in the "one-day economic circle" of Zhengzhou and Wuhan. Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and National Highway 107 run through the whole territory. Belongs to Zhumadian City. The county has a population of 860000 (2017) and an area of 1089.77 square kilometers. It was approved as an open county by the State Council in 1991, the pilot county of the eastern, central and western cooperation demonstration project of township enterprises by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1994, and the advanced county of establishing a provincial civilized health city by Henan Province in 2002. In 2009, "National Science and Technology to enrich the people and strengthen the County pilot County". September 2, 2018