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.
Yulong Naxi Autonomous County is one of the counties under the jurisdiction of Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, which is located in the northwest of Yunnan Province. As of 2014, Yulong County has jurisdiction over 16 townships (towns), 97 village committees, 5 neighborhood committees and 913 village groups, covering an area of 6198.76 square kilometers. In 2012, the total population of Yulong County was 219348, of which 188484 were ethnic minorities. Among the ethnic minorities, there are 123187 Naxi, accounting for 56.16% of the total population of Yulong County. In 2013, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Yulong County completed 4.26182 billion yuan, and the three industrial structures were 22.7, 39.0, 38.3. Yulong County has tourism such as Yulong Snow Mountain, Tiger leaping Gorge, the first Bay of the Yangtze River, Lashihai, Baoshan Stone City, Dongba Culture, Baisha murals and so on.