The colors are most clearly visible in the morning.
The mountain is considered to be holy and believed to be the deity of Cusco by local Peruvians.
It is a site of daily worship and offerings by local citizens.
The black soil is lignite that was vegetative matter that grew along the floodplain.
The grey coloring is mudstone, siltstone, and shale.
Spread over vast terraced fields, Dongchuans unusual brownish-red color comes from its rich deposit of iron and copper.
These oxides, deposited through many years, gradually developed into the extraordinary reddish brown soil seen here today.
Photo credit:JiKang Lee/Flickr
Photo credit: Absolute China Tours
