Before stopping for a bite to eat, our buses drove into the Flaming Mountains. I don't know if they got that name because of the red sandstone that forms them, or because this is the hottest spot in China, frequently reaching over 120℉ (but with a surface temperature of over 150℉), or because the eroded sandstone cliffs look like flames:
As we drove farther up the road, the landscape varied somewhat, but the absolute lack of vegetation did not:
We came to a large parking lot that appeared to be the end of the road. The scenery was very dramatic:
. . . and we were stunned to find a river running down a gorge lushly lined with trees.
