Amazing Earth

 If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either in disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Rainbow Mountains of Zhangye Danxia

Location: It is located about 40 km from Zhangye city in Gansu province, China, at the eastern foothill of Qilian Mountain Range.

Year Discovered: In the year 2,000  a journalist and a farmer Lei Yixing in Leize County found the magical Zhangye Danxia Landform and reported it in the newspaper. After seeing the photos people were shocked and this amazing landform attracted many visitors to this rare landscape.

Description: The Rainbow Mountains of China are Earth's paint palette. It is a geological wonder of the world. These famous Chinese mountains are known for their otherworldly colors that mimic a rainbow painted over the tops of rolling mountains. The site was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009 and is the destination for many Chinese and international tourists.

The Rainbow Mountains are cretaceous sandstones and siltstones that were deposited in China before the Himalayan Mountains were formed. The sand and silt were deposited with iron and trace minerals that provided the key ingredient to form the colors we see today.

The Zhangye Danxia Landform is known for its vibrant colors, primarily shades of red, orange, and yellow. 

-The red coloring is due to an iron oxide coating and cementation otherwise known as hematite between the sandstone grains.

-Brown colors are due to oxidized limonite or goethite that will eventually produce brownish or yellowish stains in sandstones.

-Green colors are due to chlorite or iron silicate clays.

-If there is iron sulfide present ... you will get a metallic yellow color imparted by sulfur.

-Magnetite can form black staining of sandstones.

Amazing Earth

 If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either in disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Shiziguan Floating Bridge

Location: City of Enshi, Xuan'en County of Southwestern Hubei Province.

Year Opened: The bridge opened to the public on May 1, 2016

Description: The Shiziguan floating bridge in China is one of the most spectacular bridges in the world ... it is surrounded by lush green forests, and the wooden plank bridge runs through the middle of the river, at the water level. It is also known as the Shiziguan Water Highway, Water Plank Road, or Long Bridge of Dreams.

It is made up of pontoon sections that are connected to each other via a locking system. The pontoons are made of steel and are filled with foamy materials to keep the bridge afloat. The locking system allows the bridge to accommodate the river currents and the weather conditions. Pedestrians can also use the bridge as a walkway. It can accommodate 1000 people at a time.

Walking or driving on the bridge gives tourists an eerie feeling and the stupefying perception and awareness that one is walking on the water's surface. It’s 1,640 feet long stretch and 4.5 meters wide, built over a circuitous turquoise (greenish blue ) river along Qingjiang River. The water depth is 60 meters. The bridge has a speed limit, to keep water from splashing and creating big waves. 

I hate driving on bridges but Shiziguan Floating Bridge looks like a straight-up nightmare. It is one of the rare places where you and your car can get seasick simultaneously.

Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland

If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either of disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland

Location: Shimao Wonderland, 5188 Chen Hua Road at Ding Yuan Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai  

Year Created: This hotel started construction in 2006, and it opened last November 20, 2018. It was 12 years of construction. It is a unique hotel and earthscraper is managed by InterContinental and was built on the site of an abandoned quarry and, notably, features some rooms underwater.

Description: The hotel and resort have an aquatic theme and have 337 rooms. The signature attractions are the quarry pit, Botanic Garden, Tianmanshan Country Club, Shenshan, and Tianmashan Mountains. The hotel is 18 stories, 16 of which are below ground level, including two projected underwater floors; two of the floors are above the 88m deep quarry. The abandoned quarry is partially filled with water to create an artificial lake. The hotel is designed in an "S" shape, utilizing a convex to concave form. 

Amazing Earth

 If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either of disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: The Devil's Tower

Location: WY-110, Devils Tower, WY 82714, USA. Devil's Tower is in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. 

Established: September 24, 1906

Description: The Devil's Tower is not man-made. The simplest explanation is that Devil's Tower is a stock - a small intrusive body formed by magma that cooled underground and was later exposed by erosion.  some people believe it is a butte (an isolated hill with steep sides and with a flat top) In 1907, scientists decided that Devil's Tower must be an eroded remnant of a laccolith (a mass of igneous rock, typically lens-shaped, that has been intruded between rock strata causing an uplift in the shape of a dome).

It is the first  American national monument and is believed to be a holy place by native Americans. Yearly about 5000 people register to climb the structure and so far there have been 5 recorded deaths.

The top of the Tower, at an altitude of 5,117 feet, is about 1,270 feet above the Belle Fourche River. The Tower is about 800 feet in diameter at the base. The sides rise almost vertically from the base for a distance of from 40 to 100 feet and then slope in more gently to form a narrow bench.

Devil's Tower is recognizable to anyone who has seen Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Amazing Earth

 If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either of disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Heaven Gate Arch

Location: Tian Men Mountain Yongding District Zhangjiajie China

Year Created: Early in the Ming Dynasty a wooden memorial gate covered in yellow-glazed tiles was built on the present site. Known as the Gate of Receiving Grace from Heaven (Chengtianmen), it burned down and was later rebuilt in 1465 during the reign of the Ming Emperor Xianzong.

Description: Heaven Gate Arch is considered the highest naturally formed arch measuring 130 meters high 55 meters wide and 60 meters in depth. Tourists can ride via cable cars and when they reach the place they can walk kilometers on pathways built on the cliff face. To reach the top of this landmark a tourist worth his salt has to brave 999 steps on the stairway to heaven.

Amazing Earth

If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either of disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Mu Cang Chai Rice Terraces in Northern Vietnam

 Location: R48H+884, QL32, Dế Su Phình, Mù Cang Chải, Yên Bái, Vietnam
Province: Yen Bai

Description: Situated at the foot of Hoang Lien Son mountain range,(about 300 km northwest of Hanoi) the Mu Cang Chai terraced landscape is representative of a living culture’s harmonious interaction with nature. With great ingenuity, the indigenous culture has transformed the mountain’s harsh natural conditions.

Mu Cang Chai possesses nearly 500 hectares of rice terraces named as “National Site Heritage” in 2007.

Amazing Earth

 If Dingdong Dantes has Amazing Earth on TV ,,, this blog has an Amazing Earth series that will leave you breathless as your jaw drops either of disbelief or a state of shock.  Let me remind our readers that the photos are not ours ... so kudos to the person who owns the images.  We are just too happy to share them with you ... that man since time immemorial has created a lot of stupefying ideas only a genius can think.  They made these ideas happen and we are here to marvel at their beauty ... the time and money spent on it ... and the sleepless nights they spent perfecting their craft.

Structure: Serpent D Ocean

Location: Pointe de Mindin, Av. de Mindin, 44250 Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, France

Year Created: 2012

Artist: Hyang Yong Ping

Architectural Style: Monumental Art

Description: Created on a titanic scale, resembling a giant twisting serpent skeleton from the sea. It is 130 meters in length and it is made of aluminum. Tourists can roam and wander around it at low tide... but on high tide, only the mouth and the top vertebra are visible.

The structure looked like a one-hell roller-coaster ride.