Experiencing a Different Charming City of Mountains and Waters

□　Written by Xiong Yi

Experiencing a Different Charming City of Mountains and Waters

□Written by Xiong Yi

To embrace the opening of the 2016 World Cities Federation Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, the Foreign and Overseas Affairs Offi ce of Chongqing organized a study trip around Fuling, Fengdu, and Pengshui for overseas media, central and municipal media during July 18thto 21st.

The Foreign and Overseas Affairs Office of Chongqing organized a study trip around Fuling, Fengdu, and Pengshui for some overseas media stationed in Chongqing as well as media of both central and municipal level during July 18thto 21st. As the 2016 World Cities Federation Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit will be held in September, this can be a good opportunity for media reporter to experience the Charming Chongqing.

Reporters with news agencies of home and abroad have joined the trip. These agencies include the Chongqing Press Offi ce of NIKKEI, United Morning Post, HK Ta Kun Pao, HK Commercial Daily, China News Service, Chongqing Broadcasting& TV Group, Chongqing Daily and Chongqing and the World.

Making light of the strong heat these reporters paid ground visits to the local tourism resources. Along the strip they appraised the fruits that Chongqing achieves from opening and development. To welcome more Chinese and foreign friends know Chongqing and visit it, they put what they saw and heard during the study trip into coverage.

Fuling: An Industrial District to Unfold a New Chapter of Tourism

Based on the rapid development momentum of old pillar industries such as food and medical, chemical engineer, equipment manufacturing as well as emerging industries like shale gas, auto accessories, Fuling District makes a scientifi cally sound plan and construction work on the coordinated development of industry and tourism.

“Our industry is based on agglomerative development and cyclic industrial chain development. The emission is strictly up to the national standard and we will measure our work by environmental protection at the first place.” Deputy District Mayor Liu Kang said to the study group. In the sense of layout, Fuling does not grow the seed of confl ict between tourism and industry. The exploration of tourism resource is based on the focus on exclusive, characteristic and unique regional features and diversifi ed development.

As a time-honored coastal district sitting at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Wujiang River, Fuling is now upgrading the 4A tourist attraction of the 816 Underground Nuclear Engineering Site apart from the Wuling Mountian Rift Valley, Baiheliang Underwater Museum, Wuling Moutain National Forest Park and Damu Flower Valley. What’s more, busy work has been underway on tapping multiple projects that integrate culture and tourism such as 1898 Pickle Culture Town, Linshi Ancient Town, Dianyi Park Protection Program, and rural tourism program.

The Wuling Rift Valley is in the territory of Wulingshan Township, 45 kilometers away from the southeast of Fuling District. The core zone of the scenic spot is featured by a karst rift valley that winds along 10 kilometers with grandeur and magnifi cence. With forest coverage above 95%, the average temperature here in summer is 22 ℃ and the negative oxygen ion content is above 100,000/cm³.

“It strikes me that we walk on the sky road of the valley cliffs after such a long way of beautiful landscape.” Staffs with the Singapore United Morning Post signed. It is known that Mt. Wuling Rift Valley is evolving into a 5A tourist attraction and much work will be done to reshape and re-elevate the 213 K㎡Mt. Wuling Tourist Resort.

The Largest artifi cial grotto in the world is the 816 Underground Nuclear Engineering Site which was started construction under the decision of the Central Military Committee (CMC) of China and the approval of Premier Zhou Enlai. It was the second industrial base of nuclear raw material, Plutnion-239. The inner space is as long as 20 kilometers, totally hidden inside the mountain. During the period of construction, 76 workers laid down their lives when digging by hands and carrying by shoulders an earthwork volume as large as 1,510,000 cubic meters after demolition blasting.

It took 18 years to finish just 85% of the whole 816 project with the joint effort of more than 60 thousand workforce who answer the call of duty from the Party Central Committee. The main cavern is 79.6 meters at highest point with the vault top spanning 31.2 meters. The architectural composition is much like a labyrinth. Around the mountain there are 19 caverns of all sizes and some 130 passages including roads, pilot tunnels, branch tunnels, tunnels and silos to plan the entrance of staffs and cars, wind tunnels, drainage, and warehouse. The whole building structure can withstand 8-magnitude earthquake at least.

However, the CMC declared to abort the project in 1984. In this way this halfway underground nuclear engineering project was not put into use for the cause of world peace. Reporters with the HK ta Kun Pao said that it is with shock that they visited the base and that the knowledge of this signifi cant history can help to enhance out national identity. Reportedly the nuclear plant site with mixed caves and buildings is now stepping up its time to upgrade and hopefully it will be open to tourist on September 18thin 2016.

Fengdu: Expediting the Construction of Auxiliary Port for the Home Port of Cruise Liners

The Construction of “Yangtze Economic Zone” has offered a good opportunity for Fengdu to develop its cruise port. Early in this year the Chongqing Municipal Government made it clear to integrate main port Chaotianmen, stand-by port Cuntan and the auxiliary port Fengdu as a home port of cruise liners and to expedite the construction of Fengdu Port. The study group had taken the view on July 19th.

According to the head of the office of Fengdu cruise, the Fengdu section of Yangtze water area is made for deepwater harbor. So because of the good and sound navigation condition, many cruises spontaneously choose to dock on Fengdu. This is particularly true when these cruises can only transfer their passengers here during the droughty period each year. As Fengdu opens its high-speed railway and expressway and formed a combined transportation of land, water and railway, it now has advantages in terms of transfer convenience and cost and effect. It only takes a tourist 50 minutes from Fengdu to Chongqing city proper by a high-speed train and the surrounding scenic spots are also extremely easy to reach.

In line with the standard to build the “most stable barge, most beautiful trestle, most sage passage, most modernized port,”Fengdu aims to build itself into a land-water transfer hub with 8 barges and 2 terminals on each side of the river for passengers. Meanwhile, it will boost the construction of Dianjiang-Fengdu-Wulong Highway and better the road network of Wuling Mountain area and its scenic area so as to form a fast loop line that connects core scenic spots such as Nantian Lake, Snow Jade Mountain in Fengdu, Damu Flower Valley in Fuling and Fairy Mountain in Wulong.

“Unlike the days before the completion of cruise port and waterland-railway transportation network, cross-border tourists, selfdrive tourists and even those from the coastal areas on a twoday or three-day trip are give more reign to their time and traveling plan instead of just leaving after they see the Ghost Town here in Fengdu. Now It is quite convenient for them to keep staying and continue to cover the scenic spots around like Snow Jade Cave, Nantian Lake, Jade Emperor Shrine and so on.” Reporters with the HK Commercial Daily extended their special admiration and concern of Fengdu upgrading its transportation to one of tourism connectivity.

With the unique ghost culture in the world, Fengdu Ming Mountain was named as one of the first national key tourist attractions as well as the one of the fist 4A tourist attractions by the State Council of China. Each year the place receives a tourist number of more than 1 million. Some of the most famous scenic spots here include the “Bridge of Helplessness”, “Road for the Dead”, “Ghost Passing Gate”, “Tianzi Temple”, and the “18 Levels of Hell”.

Ming Mountain as one of the “72 cave fairylands” of Taoism is best known as “the capital of the underworld”, or “the netherworld”. It is home to human spirits by legendary. The place embodies the very Chinese folklore idea of god and ghost, heaven and hell and based on that, derives the “culture of kindness” that advocates good deeds to punish the evil. Coupled with a lot of eccentric yet exquisite sculptures and amazing legendary tales the place enjoys so fair a fame in all times and places that literati and foreign dignitaries like Bai Juyi, Su Shi, Yasuhiro Nakasone, and Kissinger all left their track here out of admiration.

Numerous citizens from downtown will come to Jiangchi Town of the county just to spend the leisure time when summer is at its height. As a pilot village of the “Beautiful Villages” project by Ministry of Agricultural, the Hengliang Village of the town directs much effort to programs of characteristic agricultural products that synergize agricultural development and rural tourism. “It was a really unforgettable experience of traveling in the countryside like this when girls of the local Tujia ethnic group offered me drinks at the door and we learnt to pick peppers at the fi elds.”Staffs with the NIKKEI had a great impression on the unique folk activities here.

Pengshui: A World Tourist Resort of National History and Culture

Pengshui County boasts a bountiful tourism resource. It is endowed with resource advantages in terms of nationalities, landscape and culture. Reporters with the HK Commercial Daily were amazed by the ecological conservation of Mowei Mountain after they had viewed the ever-changing climate landscape at the Flying Cloud Scenic Spot. And they thought given the many highlights of Mowei Mountian, the place has a very promising prospective of tourism development.

Covering a total area of 1,910.2 hectares the Mowei Mountain scenic attraction is located at the Maoyun Mountain National Forest Park, Pengshui County. The attraction has not only such geological wonders as stone forest, bold cliffs, sinkholes, geofracture and karst caves but also natural landscapes including peak-clad clouds, sunrise and sunset, towering old trees and green forests. Meanwhile, it is blessed with rich and profound historical and religious culture.

On July 21st, the media study group visited the Jiuli City at the foot of Mowei Mountain. The governor of the city, Chiyou, is the Chief of the Jiuli Tribe at the ancient times. He is also known as the God of War in Chinese mythology as well as the ancestor of the Miao nationality. The city as an organic combination of natural landscape and Miao history and culture has the largest and highest stilted buildings in the world. At the birthplace of “Ayi, the Beauty”, a fork song of the Miao, representatives of foreign presses in Chongqing said, “Only the ones with unique national identity deserve to be known by the world.” They are willing to spread out the ancient folklore culture and art of Ch