The rocks came first, 500 million years ago, when violent debris flows sculpted the mountains into shapes that later generations would see as lying horses and turtles climbing slopes. According to geologists at Beijing University, the silver-colored formations that give Yinshitan its name are ancient debris-flow landforms, and their vivid shapes have been drawing visitors since long before the area became a national park in October 2005. Located about 200 kilometers from downtown Dalian and 25 kilometers from the city of Zhuanghe, this is where Liaoning Province's industrial coast gives way to something much older.
The park's highest point carries a story from the Tang Dynasty. Xiema Peak, whose name translates to "Tying Horse Mountain," is said to recall the Chinese General Xue Rengui, who climbed the summit to scout enemy positions during a war against a Korean empire. He tied his horse to a large rock at the top, won the ensuing battle, and left his name permanently attached to the landscape. Whether the tale is legend or history, it places this remote mountain in a military narrative stretching back over a thousand years, connecting the forests of southern Liaoning to the broader arc of East Asian conflict and imperial expansion.
Plants cover 77.2 percent of the park, and the primary forest alone spans 91.9 hectares. The botanical diversity reaches back to ancient eras: the Tiannu Mulan flower and the Sanya Diaozhang tree hold the highest level of national protection for scarce plants in China. Seven additional species carry second-tier protection, valued for both their rarity and their ornamental beauty. In the primary forests, azaleas carpet 266,800 square meters across varying altitudes, blooming in succession through different seasons so that the color shifts month by month. Wild fruits and nuts grow in abundance: grapes, kiwifruit, hawthorn, cherries, walnuts, and chestnuts. Mushrooms proliferate in the understory, and foragers can even find wild ginseng.
Yinshitan pioneered an unusual approach to conservation when it became the first Chinese national park to allow individuals to contribute directly to ecological protection through donations targeted at specific areas. The park also offers a tree adoption program: visitors can adopt up to five fruit trees, paying an annual fee and claiming the harvest in season. Available species include cherry, pear, blueberry, apricot, peach, and kiwifruit. Beyond the forests, the park contains hot springs fed by high-temperature chloride mineral water rich in lithium, bromine, iron, copper, zinc, and iodine. The mineral content is said to benefit rheumatism and digestive ailments, though the real draw may simply be the experience of soaking in geothermally heated water surrounded by half-billion-year-old rock formations.
For a national park, Yinshitan is accessible but not exactly convenient. The recently constructed Yellow Sea Express rail service has cut travel time from Dalian to about two hours, connecting the coastal metropolis to a landscape that feels worlds removed from its glass towers and shipping terminals. The park sits surrounded by mountains and threaded by small rivers, with giant silver rocks and waterfalls framing a terrain that shifts from industrial Liaoning to wild Liaoning within the span of a train ride. It is the kind of place that rewards the journey: not a manicured urban park but a remnant of deep geological time, shaped by forces that predate not just human civilization but most of the life forms that now inhabit its slopes.
Located at approximately 38.92N, 121.63E (park administrative coordinates), but the park itself is about 200 km from downtown Dalian, near Zhuanghe in southern Liaoning Province. From altitude, the mountainous terrain of the park contrasts sharply with the coastal plains and urban development along the Dalian coastline. Nearest major airport is Dalian Zhoushuizi International (ZYTL/DLC). The Yellow Sea coastline is visible to the east.