[photopress:Yuntai_Mountain.jpg,full,alignright]Yuntai Mountain in Central China’s Henan Province became a a world geopark in 2004. Now it has been named a National 5A Scenic Spot. Which, bluntly, does not sound very scenic so, if it is all right with everyone, we will continue to refer to it as Yuntai Mountain.
The National Tourism Administration was responsible for giving it this new accolade which represents the highest national standard for such scenic spots of which, so far, there are only 66. Which means that either the standard is very, very high or the National Tourism Administration has a lot of work to do.
Someone has to nominate a place for such an award. Tie Daisheng, secretary of the Jiaozuo municipal Party committee, and Lu Guoxian, Jiaozuo City mayor, were the movers to get the mountain listed as a National 5A Scenic Spot.
The mountain administration bureau set up a special team to organize the work of building a national 5A scenic geopark, with Han Yueping, the bureau’s director, as its leader.
The sightseeing paths have been rebuilt to help visitors get closer to nature and make their trip more safe and comfortable. An advanced geology museum has been set up, to spread geological awareness among visitors. All facilities have been designed to be in harmony with the mountain’s natural environment.
The number of tourists to the mountain has grown sharply in the past five years. Last year, the mountain received 2.25 million tourists, 11.3 times that in 2001.
In 2001, 90% of the mountain’s visitors came from the province itself, while today 90% come from outside the province — other parts of China and, indeed, other parts of the world. Tourism revenue has reached RMB650 million, 12.9% of the county’s gross domestic product.
Source: People’s Daily Online