Songshan Mountain and Shaolin Temple
嵩山—少林寺

Natural Features
自然概况

Located in Dengfeng City of Henan Province，Songshan Mountain is one of the five most famous and sacred mountains(known as Wuyue)and is called "Zhongyue"(the Central Mountain)It has 36 peaks and stretches 60 kilometers，composed of Taishi Mountain and Shaoshi Mountain. The highest peak is 1 494meters above sea level.
位于河南省登封市的嵩山是举世闻名的中华五岳(山东的泰山，陕西的华山，山西的恒山，湖南的衡山)之一，被称为中岳。嵩山风景区有36座山峰，绵延60公里，主要由太室山和少室山两座大山组成，最高的山峰海拔1 494米。
There exists a total of 1()monasteries，5 temples，5 palaces,3 Taoist temples，4 nunneries，4caves，3 altars and more than 270 pagodas and is the holy land gathering three major religions:Buddhism，Confucianism and Taoism. The world-famous Shaolin Temple lies hidden just in Songshan Mountain. These plentiful scenes and sights of cultural interest and rare and precious geological heritages mingle and add radiance and beauty to each other，forming the solid，multi-level，multi-functional and enchanting landscape of the Songshan Geopark.
嵩山风景区人文景观众多，计有十寺，五庙，五宫，二观，四庵，四洞，三坛及宝塔270余座，是历史上佛、儒、道三教荟萃之地。闻名于世的少林寺便深藏于嵩山的怀抱。这些丰富的人文景观和珍稀的地质遗迹相互辉映，构成了嵩山地质公园立体的、多层次的、多功能的迷人景观。

Songshan Geopark covering 450kmr is situated in Dengfeng City，Henan Province. Its main types of geological heritages are geological(structural)sections，and the main landscapes include peculiar erosional structures and limestone karst landscapes.
嵩山世界地质公园位于河南省登封市，总面积450平方公里，主要地质遗迹类型为地质(含构造)的组成部分，主要的地质风景包括独特的风化腐蚀后的结构以及石灰岩喀斯特的景观。
Songshan Mountain is geotectonically located in the southern part of the North China ancient land. Within it successive and complete Archean(3. 5 billion years ago)，Proterozoic，Paleozoic，Mesozoic and Cenozoic stratigraphic sections are exposed with clear stratigraphic sequence and typical structural features，and are called“Five Eras Gathering”by the geological circles. In fact，here is a complete“‘rock" book recording the evolution history of the Earth.
嵩山在大地构造上处于华北古陆南缘。在公园范围内，连续完整地出露35亿年以来太古代、元古代、生代和新生代五个地质历史时期的地层，地层层序清楚，构造形迹典型，被地质界称为“五代同堂”，是一部完整的地球历史石头书。

Because of the mountains and peaks such as Yuzhaishan，Junjifeng .Wuzhiling and Jianshan are mainly formed by quartzite and built up by tectonic movements, they all tower aloft above 400m elevation. Steep and graceful precipices and cliffs and wonderful valleys are widespread in the area,forming unique landforms and landscapes.
嵩山主峰地区的玉寨山、峻极峰、瓦指岭、尖山等，多为石英岩组成，加之构造运动所致，使诸峰向土拔地而起，立壁千仞，险峻清秀，奇峰异谷遍布全区，形成独特的地形和地貌。
People of 8 nationalities including Han，Hui，Pumi，Bai，Yi，Miao，Uygurand and Mongolian live in the geopark，forming a big family of multiple nationalities. During each festival of the ethnic minorities，the local government and Han people attend the celebration to fully show and enjoy the folk custom and folkways.
公园区内居住有汉、回、普米、白、彝、苗、维吾尔、蒙古八个民族，形成了多民族的大家庭。在各少数民族节庆之日，地方政府与汉族同胞与之共同庆贺，充分展示其民习，民俗，民风等民族文化，享受少数民族的习俗乐趣。
The mountain also boasts a large number of showplaces and cultural relics. In the famous Shaolin Temple，Shaolin monks are exercising Qigong and other Shaolin Kung-fu(martial arts).There are also some other temples in the mountain，such as the Zhongyue Temple，which is nicknamed“the Little Palace":the FawangTemple and the Huishan Temple，the oldest temples extant in China;two earliest and well-preserved astronomical observatories extant in China，etc..
风景区内还有许多名胜景点和历史文物。在享誉中外的少林寺里，少林和尚苦练气功和少林功夫(武术)除少林寺外，这里还有不少其他寺庙，如中岳庙，别称“小宫殿”;法王寺和慧山寺，两座中国现存最古老的寺庙;以及两座中国现存最古老，保存最完好的天文台(观星台)等等 。
Songshan abounds in stele carvings，totaling more than 2000 pieces，left by famous calligraphers like Yan Zhenqing，Su Dongpo，Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu
嵩山还有大量的碑文石刻，共计2 000余处，由著名书法家颜真卿、苏东坡、黄庭坚和米芾等等。