Sanjiang is a veritable museum displaying the geological history of the last 40-50 million years associated with the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plate and the lifting of the Himalaya Range and Tibetan Plateau. Every kind of landscape to be found in the northern Hemisphere other than desert and ocean can be found here including magnificent snow-capped mountains and glaciers, precipitous Danxia cliffs and wonderful Karst formations.

In 1985, a UNESCO official discovered this world wonder from among satellite scanning images. In 1988, the Three Parallel Rivers area was designated as a state-level scenic attraction with the approval of the State Council.

On July 2, 2003, the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a natural property at the 27^th session of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.