An aerial view of the Wujiang River in Yanhe Tujia autonomous county in Guizhou province.[Photo by Zhang Xiangrong/For China Daily]
With its wealth of natural resources, rare animals and plants, as well as history and ethnic cultures, Tongren is a great destination for winter tourism. A three-day stay will be enough for visitors seeking to explore the beauty of this city, which boasts magnificent mountains and hot springs.
Day 1: Fanjing Mountain
To protect its environment, the Fanjing Mountain scenic area has a daily visitor limit of 10,000. In Tongren, people often say that "there are 7 billion people in the world, but Fanjing Mountain can only accommodate 3 million each year, which means the world would have to line up for 2,000 years to visit the mountain one by one".
Such limitations only make the world natural heritage site even more attractive.
According to the local government website, since the fourth quarter of last year, more than 270,000 tourists have visited Fanjing Mountain, an increase of over 560 percent compared to the previous quarter.
In addition, tourism in Tongren, where Fanjing Mountain is located, made revenues of nearly 47 billion yuan in the first three quarters of last year, an increase of over 30 percent compared to the previous year.
What attracts tourists are the area's 7,000 species of plants and animals, 2,000 years of history, touching stories from the Red Army's Long March, and mountain trails above the clouds.
In 2018, Fanjing Mountain was added to the World Heritage List, becoming the 13th world natural heritage site in China and the 4th in Guizhou. Over the past five years, management of the Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve has intensified efforts to protect its environment.
According to Zhang Jinfu, deputy director of one of the reserve's management stations, the protected area has expanded from the original 428 square kilometers to 775 square km. The number of flora and fauna species under protection has also increased, from over 4,000 to more than 7,100, including 57 rare animal species, 83 rare plant species, and 21 nationally protected plant species.
