The February 1, 2010 edition of the New York Times features a piece on Jiuzhaigou Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China’s Sichuan province that consists of a natural wildlife and forest area.
Jiuzhaigou has experience a significant increase in visitors recently, which reflects the upward trend in domestic Chinese travel in the past year. The New York Times reports, “while the [travel] industry lost ground in Europe and the United States, China’s tourism sector posted a 9 percent jump in revenue 2009, to 1.26 trillion renminbi [Yuan], thanks to domestic demand.”
WildChina has done service work in Jiuzhaigou, and guests on our journey Tracking Wild Panda Footprints, which was featured on Away.com, witness the incredible natural scenery here. Here’s what we have to say about the nature reserve:
With its lush alpine scenery, turquoise lakes and multi-leveled waterfalls, Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve has long been a haven for nature lovers. Jiuzhaigou, where film director Ang Lee filmed breathtaking landscape scenes for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and World Biosphere Reserve. There are fixed travel routes for eco-friendly buses to drive along, with private vehicles restricted from entering the park—extremely important, given that there are 2.5 million visitors each year. Discussion on how to successfully manage mass tourism is always a heated topic here.
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Want more information on Jiuzhaigou? Send us a tweet @WildChina or ask Alex at alex.grieves@wildchina.com.
