The tourist center welcomes to the Danxia World Natural Heritage Site in Chishui region, a popular tourist attraction. It includes the basic facilities for tourists and is located at the very entrance of the scenic area, in a V-shaped canyon, 6m width at its narrowest point. The valley is surrounded by bright red cliffs, peaks and streams on the North and a red Danxia stone arch-shaped cave facing West. The natural cave introduces visitors to the spectacular landscape, where locals used to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth and worship Buddha. The system of steps and the building shape aim to highlight the ritual importance of the site.

The project is located at the base of a mountain, from which the top originates a river. When torrential floods erupt, various sizes of Danxia stones are transported downstream by the river and collected by workers. Danxia stones are sandstones characterized by high-porosity and are extremely easy to cut, perfectly suitable for local traditional mortar masonry works.

Ground: crushed stone aggregate concrete + pine template (30 x 60 x 2 cm)
Steps: large blocks (60/90 x 30 x 15 cm)
Pier: middle blocks (24 x 12 x 6cm)
Roof: sheets (60 x 30 x 2.5cm)

On the northern side a twisted corridor responds to the stream’s dynamics. The building on the southern side is composed by a group of seven stone boxes, which are characterized by a rainwater collecting system, light capture system and tree courtyards. All around the seven stone boxes architects designed a flexible recreational space, corresponding to the different courtyards’ environments (water courtyard, light courtyard and tree courtyard). The supporting system, a dense assembly of stone pillars evokes the surrounding Danxia stone forest.

Credits:Haobo Wei, Jingsong Xie, Ke Zhou, Yuanping Li, Yudan Luo, Minghua Ou

Credits:
- West-line Studio - Lead Architect - Haobo Wei
- West-line Studio - Architect - Minghua Ou
- West-line Studio - Equipment - Hongbo Shi
- West-line Studio - Architect - Yudan Luo
- West-line Studio - Landscape - Yangyalan Ou
- West-line Studio - Structural - Yuanping Li
- West-line Studio - Landscape - Yanwu Liu
- West-line Studio - Lead Architect - Jingsong Xie