Leiqiong Global Geopark, China

This geopark is located on both sides of the Qiongzhou Strait. It has two major scenic districts: Haikou in Hainan Province and Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province. It became a global geopark in 2006. The Haikou Scenic District contains 101 volcanoes of different types, including almost all types of basaltic and steam magma volcanoes, such as lava cones, scoria cones, composite cones and maar volcanoes. It is the largest volcanic cluster in China and has well-preserved examples of many shapes and forms of volcanoes along the Quaternary volcanic belt. The Huguangyan, Tianyang and Qingtongyang geosites in the Zhanjiang Scenic District and Shuangchiling and Yanghualing in the Haikou Scenic District are famous typical maar volcanoes. The maar lakes in China were first studied at Huguangyan, and it is a base for cooperative research projects for Chinese and German scientists. The two scenic districts also have interesting local culture that coexists with the natural volcanic environment.