the overall structure of the geopark is “two centers and eight major scenic areas”, with two comprehensive service centers and eight major areas for tourism.

     the two centers were established in tongle town, leye (6300 m2) and fengshan town, fengshan (4700 m2). the eight major scenic areas are located throughout the karst areas of leye and fengshan counties.

     the major attractions are distributed asymmetrically on both sides of roads of throughout the scenic area. the roads connect the attractions like a string of beads.

     leye–fengshan geopark covers 930 km2 with definite boundaries and unambiguous, uncontested land property rights. the geosites within the geopark have been classified into four grades of protected area according to their importance:

     core protected area (3.4 km2): world class geosites and those rare in china.

     first-grade protected area (19 km2): typical and important geosites and geological features as well as important natural environments and regions surrounding the core areas.

     second-grade protected area (43.69 km2): geological landscape with scientific and tourism value.

    third-grade protected area (863.7 km2): scenic protection zones where the natural geographical environment is closely related to the geosites.

protection planning for the geopark