Rocky rainbows' cultural colors

Geography and anthropology mix to paint Zhangye's multihued mountains' vibrant allure, Erik Nilsson reports.

Gansu province's Rainbow Mountains live up to their colorful name - and the various names that live within them.

That's not only because the 50-square-kilometer range in the Qilian Mountains' foothills on the edge of Zhangye city takes its appellation from its multihued striations. (It's a trend to share photos of the peaks with the hashtag, "#nofilter".)

Rocky rainbows' cultural colors

Rocky rainbows' cultural colors

Rocky rainbows' cultural colors

Rocky rainbows' cultural colors

Rocky rainbows' cultural colors