Folk songs to highlight mountain beauty spot

Zuoquan county in Shanxi province is promoting its main attractions by holding an international folk song festival in the Lianhuayan Scenic Area.

Scheduled to open on Aug 24, the festival will include a singing contest with more than 100 participants from home and abroad, according to Zhao Hui, an official with the county's publicity department.

Lianhuayan, the venue, will be a highlight of local tourist promotion, Zhao said.

Lianhuayan, which literally means "lotus-shaped rocks", is located at the heart of the Taihang Mountains in the east of Shanxi province.

"The area features a danxia landform. The cliffs here consist of layers of red-colored and lotus-petal-like rocks as a result of water erosion over millions of years," Zhao said. He added that the huge rocks also come in the shape of frogs, turtles and tigers.

However, the area was known by few tourists because of poor road connectivity and its location in a landlocked mountainous area. In 2009, local authorities began to develop facilities and publicize the destination to tourists.

During the past decade, the scenic area has held a number of promotional campaigns, including photography contests and other tourism events. Several movies were also shot on location there, according to Zhao.

The scenic area, which is situated in a valley and covers about 800 hectares, is now connected to the county seat some 30 kilometers away with a new road.

In addition to the lotus-shaped rocks, another selling point of the area are the cave dwellings in the cliffs.

According to Zhao, dozens of cave dwellings have been discovered in Lianhuayan. The caves are 6-20 square meters in space, each comprising one to three rooms.

Jiang Haixiao was one of the visitors to the scenic area."I'm a native of Zuoquan but I left my hometown when I graduated from a local high school. I learned about the attraction only recently.

"The scenery here is overwhelming, even for a native like me. I recommend the place to my friends," Jiang said.