ilometers to the northeast of Shaoguan City. Geological studies
show that ,twenty five million years ago, this place was a vast
expanse of a low-lying lake .Later, movements of the earth’s crust
made it rise above the ground and the water receded away, thus
turning it into a mountain and the former sediment at the bottom of
the lake gradually oxidized and because red rocks. These red rocks
and red precipices, being relieved against the green woods and the
blue sky, look just like rosy clouds, hence the name “Danxia”,
meaning “red clouds” in English.
二十世纪30年代、中山大学教授陈国达对丹霞山及华南地区的红石山地作了深入的研究之后，将这一类红色砂石的地貌命名为“丹霞山地貌”，并很快被学术界接受并采用；此后世界上凡是由红色沙砾岩构成、以赤壁丹崖为特征的地貌均被称为丹霞地貌。世界各大洲除南极洲之外均有丹霞地貌，如美国的大峡谷和德国萨拉逊一些地区；而丹霞山是世界上这类地貌中面积最大、发育最典型、风景最优美的地区。
In the 1930s, Professor Chen Guoda of the
Sun Yat-sen University made an intensive investigation and study of
the geomorphic features of the Danxia Mountain and other red-rock
mountain in South China. He denominated this kind of red-rock land
configuration the “Danxia Landform”, which was soon approved and
universally adopted by the academic circles, thus making the
Landform can be found in all continents of the world except
Antarctica, such as the Great Canyon of the United States and the
some areas in Saxony of Germany. But, the Danxia Mountain is the
largest and the most beautiful and typical of its kind.
丹霞山的面积为319平方公里，有大小石峰600多座，宛如一方红宝石雕朔园，故又称“中国红石公园”，并于1995年被国务院批准为国家地质自然保护区，2000年被联合国科教文组织评为世界地质公园，2010年评为“世界遗产”。
The Danxia Mountain covers an areas of 319
square kilometers, in which over 600red-rock peaks stand out well
against the woods of green, a sight that reminds one of a large
garden with many ruby sculptures; therefore it is also named China
Ruby Park or literally China Red Stone Park. In 1995, the Chinese
State Council approved of its being a geological nature reserve
and, in2000; it was rated by the UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as the world’s
geological park.
[山门]
现在我们来到了丹霞山的山门，这座山门全部是用丹霞山的红砂石砌成。这几个大字是公园的名字：中国红石公园。山门上“丹霞山”三个大字是中国著名画家关山月所题。现在我们沿山路攀登海拔408米的丹霞山主峰---长老峰。
[The Entrance to the Mountain]
Now we have arrived at the entrance to the
Danxia Mountain. The gate structure here is constructed of red sand
rocks. These Chinese characters are the name of the park, meaning
“China Ruby Park”. The three big Chinese characters up on the
horizontal beam, “Dan Xia Shan”, meaning Danxia Mountain, were
written by Guan Shanyue, who was a famous painter in China. We’ll
follow the mountain road to climb the Zhanglao Peak, which is the
main peak of the Danxia Mountain, 408 meters above sea level.
[群象过江和玉女拦江]
现在我们将要进入丹霞山的中心景区。丹霞山是广东四大名山之首，其独特的自然风光给人们带来了无限遐想。请大家往锦江对面的山峰看：那些山峰就像一头头大象正要跨越锦江向我们走来，象鼻、象牙、象耳、象眼形神俱备；所以，这一景就叫“群象过江”。
（在阳元大桥上）大家往右看：那座山就像一个入睡的少女，从右到左是头部，颈部，胸部和腹部，轮廓分明；故此景叫“睡美人”或“玉女拦江”。
[The Elephants Crossing the River and the Beautiful
Girl Blocking the River]
Now we have come to the central area of the
Danxia Mountain. The Danxia Mountain is rated first among the four
famous mountains in Guangdong Province and its unique natural
scenery gives free play to one’s fancy. Please look at the hill in
the distance beyond the coming up to us. Their trunks, tusks, ears
and eyes are all lifelike. So this sight is named ‘The Elephants
Crossing the River”.
(On the Yangyuan Bridge) Please look to
your right at the hill in the distance. It looks as if a young girl
is lying down to sleep: From right to left, the outlines of her
head, her neck, her chest and her belly are all clearly
discernible. So, this sight is called “The Sleeping Belle” or “The
Beautiful Girl Blocking the River”.
[阳元石]
这座山叫阳元山，即“雄性之山”。这根石柱叫阳元石。高28米，直径7米，酷似男根；阳元山因此得名。据专家考证，阳元石原为山体石壁的一部分，大自然的鬼斧神工把它从山体重分离出来并雕琢成这个样子，至今已有30万年了。旧时人们都祈求家族男丁兴旺、子孙绵延，所以此石常受人膜拜。
[The Yangyuan Column]
This hill is called Yangyuan Hill, meaning
“The Hill of Male Sex “. It is so named because the stone column
here, 28 meters tall and 7meters in diameter, is the very image of
man’s external genitals. According to geological studies, this
stone column was a part of the cliff and it is over three hundred
thousand years since Mother Nature severed it form the mountain
body and carved it into this shape. In the old days, men were
regarded as superior to women and people often prayed for having
highly worshiped by the pilgrims.
[阴元石]
刚才我们看过阳元石，现在我们看到的这块石壁叫“阴元石”，其形状酷似女性的生殖器：它的形成已有10多万年了。上帝创造了伊甸园中的亚当和夏娃一堆夫妻，而大自然则在丹霞山雕琢出这对夫妻。世界多么奇妙！
[The Yinyuan Cliff]
This steep face of rock is called Yinyuan
Cliff, meaning Stone Cliff of Female Sex in English, because it is
a strong resemblance of woman’s external genitals. It was found
some one hundred thousand years ago. Just as God had sculptured the
first man and his wife, Adam and Eve, in the Garden Danxia
Mountain. What a wonderful world this is!
[锦石岩]
这个岩洞叫锦石岩。岩洞里面是一座佛教寺庙，有千佛殿、观音殿、大雄宝殿等庙堂；其中观音殿岩洞最大，深30多米，高四米，可容纳上百善信同时参拜；洞内朔有观音32相，个个表情栩栩如生，神态各异。在大雄宝殿内有一石壁，状似龙，其颜色会因春夏秋冬四季不同而变化；春而嫩绿，夏而深绿。秋而黄绿，冬而褐黄；故被称作变色龙。这种神奇的现象是怎样出现的呢？原来是因为岩石上生长着一种低等藻类植物；这种藻类吸水性很强，天气潮湿是吸水多生长旺盛颜色就深；天气干燥时吸水少，颜色就变成褐黄。洞外的摩崖上刻有“锦崖”二字，是南宋（1127-1279）赵汝来所题；这是丹霞山最早的摩崖石刻。
[The Jinshi Cave]
This cave is called Jinshi Cave, meaning
Colorful Rock Cave in English. The inside of this cave is a
Buddhist monastery consisting of the Thousand Buddha Hall, the
Guanyin Hall and the Sakyamuni Hall etc. Among these halls, the
Guanyin Hall for the Goddess of Mercy is the largest, 30 meters
deep and 4meters high with adequate space to accommodate a hundred
pilgrims at the same time. In this hall there are many images of
the Goddess of Mercy in her different incarnations, 32 in all,
which are all made to be lifelike of rock that shapes like a
dragon. It is called “Bian Se Long ”, meaning “color-changing
dragon” or chameleon, because its color changes according to its
background. It is light green in spring, dark green in summer,
yellowish green in autumn and brownish yellow in winter. Why is
that? It is because on the surface of the rock is growing a kind of
alga that is highly water-absorbing. The alga is lush and green
when water is adequate in rainy seasons while in dry seasons, when
water is insufficient, it turns yellow or brown. On the cliff
outside the cave, there are two big Chinese characters “jin yan”,
meaning “colorful rock cave”. They were written by Zhao Rulai, a
man of letters of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127—1279AD), and are
the earliest engravings on cliffs in the Danxia Mountain.
[别传寺]
别传寺建于清朝康熙元年（1662年），清朝时香火极盛，是粤北三大佛教寺院之一（其它两座为乳源的法门和曲江的南华寺）。走进别传寺山门，我们可以看到在丹红的悬崖上有很多石刻，其中“丹霞”二字石刻是民国时期广东省主席李汉魂所题。别传寺结构与其它佛教寺庙大体相同；有天王殿、钟鼓楼、大雄宝殿、观音堂等。
[The Biechuan Temple]
This is a Buddhist monastery called
Biechuan Temple. Built in 1662, i. e. the first year in the reign
of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, it was frequented by a large
number of pilgrims and is one of the three largest Buddhist
monasteries in
Northern Guangdong (The other tow being the
Famen Temple in Ruyuan Country and the Nanhua Temple in Qujiang
Country). Up on the main gate of the temple, there are four Chinese
characters: Bie chuan Chan Si, meaning Biechuan Chan Buddhist
Monastery. They were written by Li Hanhun, who was then the gate,
we can see many engravings on the red cliff. Among them the two big
Chinese characters Dan Xia, 5-6 square feet each, are the most
beautiful. They were written by an official of the Qing
Dynasty.
The Biechuan Temple is constructed in more or less
the same layout as other Buddhist monasteries. It consists of the
Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the bell and drum towers, the Sakyamuni
Hall and the Hall of the Goddess of Mercy and so on.
《导游实训教材》（吴仲湛 等编写）
