Jin Gui Yan（Golden Turtle Rock）

Jin Gui Yan（Golden Turtle Rock）On the east side of Huangshizhai in zhangjiajie national forest, this 32-meter-long and 18-meter-high boulder is named Golden Turtle Rock because it resembles a giant tortoise walking with its head held high. The rock is made of quartz sandstone from 350 million years ago, with a tortoise-like texture formed by the deposition of yellowish-brown iron oxide on its surface, and its back armor is 4.7 meters thick at its thickest point.

Although geological exploration has revealed three stress cracks at its base, the rock is still perfectly balanced, tilted at 28 degrees, yet it has stood for more than 10,000 years. At its northwest corner (29.31°N, 110.45°E), the projection of the turtle’s head at sunrise and the Longevity Spring 200 meters away form a miraculous image of a turtle drinking from a clear spring.