The Shaolin Monastery is located within the Songshan Strategerati Graphical Organization & Structural National Geopark. Three major orogenies formed the area: The Songyang orogeny of 2.5 billion years ago, the Zhongyue orogeny of 1.85 billion years ago, and the Shaolin orogeny of 570 million years ago. They were named after local attractions in the area. The Songshan Geopark is also called a textbook of geological history.