Yangtze Travel News

Chongqing: The First Three Gorges Red Leaf Festival to Open as of Nov. 28th

The Wushan County Government of Chongqing City has announced to open the first Three Gorges Red Leaf Festival and the eighth Shennu (the Goddess) Tourism and Culture Festival from November 28^th to December 28^th.

The red leaf plants of Three Gorges along Yangtze River cover the largest area in China. It stretches east to Nanjinguan in Yichang City, west to the Qutang Gorge in Fengjie County, south to Enshi City and north to Daba mountainous area. Especially, the red leaf area within Wushan County is about 3,295 acres. In Three Gorges area, there are over 200 kinds of plants of which leaves turn to red during the autumn and the period for appreciating red leaf usually last for three months.

During the festival, there will be mainly four sections of activities:

First, the opening ceremony will start at the Municipal Square of Wushan County on the morning of November 28^th; second, art performances with local features are to be presented at nights; third, a red leaf photography contest will be held; fourth, a local gourmet food contest will be displayed to please visitors' appetite. What's more, visitors will be able to travel by boat along the river to appreciate the red leaves.

Chongqing to Develop the Biggest Mid-river Island - Huanghua Town in Three Gorges Area

The famous Three Gorges Scenic Area will probably explore a new attraction Huanghua Town which will become the biggest mid-river island within the area of Three Gorges Dam.

Lying in Zhong County of Chongqing City the Huanghua Town used to be a crucial military area over 700 years ago. After the water storage of the Three Gorges Dam the city became the biggest mid-river island in Three Gorges Area. Covering an area of about 297 acres the island gradually formed unique features described as 'river containing the island island enclosing a lake and lake still containing islands'. It is predicted to be completed within three to five years.

Sichuan Province: The Second Highest Airport - Kangding Airport Passes Trial Operation

Built in the transitional area between Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Sichuan Basin the Kangding Airport in Kangding County of Sichuan Province passed the trial operation on October 28^th. More than 13 728 feet above the sea-level it is the second highest airport in the world following the Changdu Banda Airport in Tibet.  

 

The new airport has a runway about 2.5 miles long which allow the take-off of Boeing 737-700 and Airbus 319 flights. It is planned that the first official flight service will be Chengdu-Kangding round-trip flights on May 1^st 2008 operated by Air China Limited. 

Yichang: Sanxia (Three Gorges) Airport to Start Three Domestic Air Routes

From October 28^th 2007 to March 29^th 2008 the Sanxia (Three Gorges) Airport in Yichang City will carry out the new flight schedule for the coming winter and spring. Meanwhile another three domestic air routes?- Yichang to Xian Yichang to Enshi and Yichang to Wenzhou will be opened as of November 3^rd.

Built along with the Three Gorges Project the Sanxia Airport started to be fully operated in 1996. Now there are 26 international and domestic air routes leading to Japan Korea and major cities in China's mainland including Beijing Zhengzhou Xian Shanghai Wuhan Guangzhou Shenzhen Hangzhou and Jinan.

The new flights Yichang-Xian will be operated by China Shenzhen Airlines while Yichang-Enshi and Yichang-Wenzhou flights will be operated by China Southern Airlines. The flight information in detail will be published soon.

Sichuan: Jiuzhaigou to Cancel Preferential Policy for Twice Entry as of Apr.1st 2008

News from Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area in Sichuan Province says that the preferential policy of 'no entrance ticket for the second entering' will be cancelled from the beginning of the peak season (April 1^st–November 15^th) in 2008.

 

Previously the preferential policy regulates that visitors who want to enter the scenic area twice need to go through relevant procedures when buying entrance tickets on the first day of traveling; then on the second day they can enter the area again by paying only a small amount of handling charge.

 

Now with the dramatically increasing of tourists great burden has been added to the ecology of Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area. In order to ease the burden the local tourism administration has limited the number of tourists since the National Day Holiday of this year. Thereafter this new cancellation was presented. Once started visitors will have to pay the entrance fee again for the second entering.  

Three Gorges Scenic Area: Zhangfei Temple Reconstructed in a Large-scale

As a precious attraction lying in the Three Gorges Scenic Area the Zhangfei Temple of Yunyang County is under a large-scale reconstruction. It is predicted that the project will be finished before the May Day Holiday in 2008. During this reconstruction the temple will be still open as usual.

Originally built in the late period of the Kingdom of Shu of the Three Kingdoms Period the Zhangfei Temple has a history of more than 1 700 years. During the construction of the Three Gorges Project it was moved and reconstructed 20 miles upstream of its original site. In July 2003 the new temple began to be opened to the public.