Sleeping for hundreds of millions of years, waking up shocked the world.

18/0, China National Convention Center, Beijing. Chongqing released the major news of the successful establishment of Yunyang Global Geopark. The dinosaurs that have been sleeping in Yunyang for hundreds of millions of years have finally "woken up".

It has been ten years since the discovery of dinosaur fossils in Yunyang.

Scene of Yunyang Global Geopark (taken on 29/0/0). Xinhua News Agency

在地球誕生和發展的46億年歷史中，十年，不過短短一瞬。然而，雲陽卻用十年時間，喚醒了塵封上億年的故事，讓眾人得以窺見中侏羅紀時期神秘的恐龍世界。

Surprisingly, Yunyang dinosaur fossils were also brought to the press conference for display. The sharp dinosaur teeth and thick sauropod femurs attract many people to stop and watch.

借由一場發佈會，從重慶到北京，從長江三峽壯闊褶皺之間到華北平坦的沖積平原上，雲陽的這隻恐龍走了一億六千萬年。

Dinosaur fossils displayed in the Dinosaur Fossil Site Pavilion of Yunyang Global Geopark. Reporter Xie Zhiqiang Photo / Visual Chongqing

01

"Dragon" boy

A week ago, Yunyang was officially approved as a UNESCO Global Geopark. This also marks the first global geopark in Chongqing.

Yunyang has always been associated with dragons, and there are nearly a thousand places named after "dragons", each of which has a story and legend about dragons. However, the legend of dinosaurs has to start with a teenager named Zhou Zheng.

"I thought it was a pig bone or other animal bone, but I didn't expect it to be a dinosaur fossil." Recalling the scene at that time, Zhou Zheng once told reporters.

Back then, 18-year-old Zhou Zheng came to Laojun Village, Pu'an Township with the construction team to build a private house, and helped the villagers to graze cattle in the back mountain in his free time. While herding the cattle, I accidentally saw a strangely shaped stone on the ground.

Zhou Zheng asked a few nearby villagers, but the other party didn't care, but thought of the dinosaur world in the movie, "I want to send the things I picked up for identification." After almost a month, the identification agency came with the news that this "stone" was a dinosaur fossil.

Subsequently, well-known experts in the field of paleontology and archaeology came to Pu'an Township, and after identification and on-site investigation, they believed that there may be a huge dinosaur fossil group from the Jurassic period hidden here.

Yunyang Global Geopark Longgang Tiankeng karst landform (taken on 24/0/0, drone photo). Xinhua News Agency

02

"Dragon" Great Wall

How big is the huge dinosaur fossil group?

After excavation and protection, it has been revealed that the distribution area of dinosaur fossils is about 69 square kilometers, and the distribution along the strike of rock layers is as long as 0.0 km. Spanning the entire middle Jurassic period, it is known as the "Great Wall of Dinosaur Fossils in the World", and the excavation has formed the world's largest Jurassic single dinosaur fossil wall, filling the gap in the history of dinosaur evolution in the world from 00 million to 00 million years ago.

在雲陽縣普安鄉老君村的雲陽恐龍國家地質公園，150米長、高度超6米的恐龍化石牆靜靜挺立。5000餘塊恐龍化石以原始埋藏姿態凝固在岩層中。已經命名了普安雲陽龍、朐忍渝州龍、普賢峨眉龍、元始巴山龍等6個新屬或新種恐龍，研究建立了雲陽新田溝組恐龍動物群。

Tourists visit the dinosaur fossil wall at Yunyang Global Geopark (taken on 30/0, drone photo). Xinhua News Agency

UNESCO's core criterion for evaluating Global Geoparks is that they must have geological heritage sites of global value.

"Scientific value on a global scale." At the press conference, Tao Xiaofeng, deputy director of the General Office of the Chongqing Municipal Government, explained the key to the success of the Yunyang Global Geopark.

Today, the Middle Jurassic dinosaur fossil group and the "world's first tank" dragon tank sinkhole constitute two world-class geological wonders of Yunyang Global Geopark. The Yunyang Global Geopark also covers an area of 05.0 square kilometers, accounting for one-third of the total area of Yunyang.

為什麼會有這麼多恐龍化石密集埋藏在普安鄉？據權威恐龍學家推測，1.8億至1.6億年前，雲陽地區為古巴蜀湖邊沿，成群且不同種類的恐龍生活於湖邊，后因一次或多次突發泥石流、大洪水、持續暴雨等災害事件導致大量恐龍死亡。在河流匯入湖泊三角洲地帶時，河水流速減緩，其攜帶的大量恐龍骨骼隨之沉積下來並形成化石。

Now, with the successful establishment of the Global Geopark, more and more people will come to Yunyang to stop in front of the "Great Wall of World Dinosaur Fossils" and observe the treasures left by the earth to mankind.

Yunyang Dinosaur Fossil Site Museum (taken on 30/0). Xinhua News Agency

03

"Dragon" hometown

Chongqing is extremely rich in paleontological fossil resources, and dinosaur bones or footprint fossils have been found in 29 districts and counties. And Yunyang is a city that walks from the back of a dinosaur.

"The value of creating a global geopark and obtaining a world-class golden signboard is beyond imagination." At the press conference, Chen Daobin, secretary of the Yunyang County Party Committee, said bluntly that Yunyang will usher in a "triple" opportunity, more and more people will "know and recognize" Yunyang, the platform for "exhibition and performance prospects" in Yunyang will be bigger and bigger, and the projects of "selection and selection" in Yunyang will be stronger and stronger.

At present, Yunyang is out of the circle because of the creation of the Global Geopark, which makes Yunyang, which has a history of 2300 years as a county, truly go out of Chongqing, to the whole country, and to the world.

"It's not a luxury to eat Peking duck in the morning and Yunyang haggis in the evening." Chen Daobin introduced that Yunyang is building a "four horizontal, one vertical and one link" expressway network to speed up the realization of "6 hours Chongqing, 0 hours Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, 0 hours Zhengzhou, Kunming, 0 hours Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou" backbone transportation.

"The successful approval of Yunyang Global Geopark is a major event and happy event for Chongqing." Luo Shaolu, member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Culture and Tourism Development Commission, revealed at the press conference that the landscape along the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River will be linked, and the "240-minute tourism circle" centered on the Yunyang Global Geopark will be planned, and the 0-hour transit visa-free policy will be used to promote the Yunyang Global Geopark to build a destination for inbound tourists in Chongqing.

Tao Xiaofeng also revealed that after the successful establishment of the Yunyang Global Geopark, Chongqing will also closely follow the construction of a beautiful China pilot area, give full play to the brand effect of the Global Geopark, and strive to play an exemplary role in promoting the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Legend has it that Yunyang is the hometown of dragons. Now, Yunyang is the "Dragon Town of the World".

In the upcoming "May Day" holiday, are you interested in going to Yunyang to appreciate this geological wonder?

Yunyang Dinosaur Fossil Site Museum (taken on 7/0). Xinhua News Agency

Source: New Chongqing-Chongqing Daily