Zhang Xingyi · Deputy Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Nanchuan District Committee, Mayor of Nanchuan District | Preserving and Sharing Natural Heritages of Jinfo Mountain

EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 29 2021, the main activity of the third International Mountain Tourism Day—the World Heritage Famous Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit kicked off in Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality, China successfully. Themed with “World Heritage Protection and Green Development of Mountain Tourism”, the Summit got strong support from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (IOV) and the China Association of National Parks and Scenic Sites. The theme forum presented wonderful contents with high-level opinions, frontier observations and dialogues on trends. The speeches will be released in succession to share with industry colleagues.

Zhang Xingyi, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Nanchuan District Committee delivered a speech at the summit:

Good morning! I’m very glad to be here at the foot of Jinfo Mountain, bank of Fengzui River, with all of you in this vibrant early summer, to share the beautiful local mountains and rivers and the healthy lifestyle on this land of world heritages, and jointly explore how to preserve and share the natural heritages. As the host city of this summit, we sincerely thank all the friends and guests from all over the world. Thank you for your passion to and care about Jinfo Mountain in Nanchuan District.

I have introduced others about Jinfo Mountain many times, but it is my first time to do it at such a grand event in front of so many international friends. Jinfo Mountain, as a splendid natural heritage, doesn’t just belong to China, but belong to the whole world as well. It is a treasure of mankind. So, as the local government, we shoulder the responsibility of preserving and managing it, and the obligation of promoting its development and sharing such a natural resource.

Jinfo Mountain is located at the northernmost end of Dalou Mountains, and is named after being like a giant Buddha lying on his back, shining out while bathed in the sunset glow. It is also defined as a karst table mountain by world natural heritage experts because the peak is like a table unfolded. Jinfo Mountain has an area of 1,300 square kilometers, and is a national AAAAA tourist attraction, a state-level scenic area, as well as a state-level nature reserve. The typical karst platform, ancient high-altitude cave system, colorful surface landscapes, great biodiversity, and a long history and profound culture are rarely seen across the globe. On June 23, 2014, Jinfo Mountain stunned the world with “extraordinary natural phenomena” and as “an excellent example of the Earth’s evolution history,” and was thus listed as a world natural heritage.

“Heaven and Earth proceed in the most admirable way, but they say nothing about them; the four seasons observe the clearest laws, but they do not discuss them; all things have their complete and distinctive constitutions, but they say nothing about them” said Zhuang Zhou, a Chinese philosopher, over 2,300 years ago. “Beauty is everywhere. It is not that she is lacking to our eye, but our eyes which fail to perceive her” said Auguste Rodin, a French architect. Today, more and more tourists all over the world come and visit Jinfo Mountain exactly because they have the eyes to perceive beauty, and they have found the once unspoken, unseen, undiscussed charm of this mountain. The beauty of Jinfo Mountain lies in its rare climate. The highest altitude is 2,238 meters. The highest elevation is up to 1,911 meters. Forest coverage is over 95 percent. The mountain enjoys obvious three-dimensional climate conditions, with annual mean temperature at 16.6&4u:2103. In this sound ecological environment, there are up to 20,000 negative oxygen ions in the air per cubic centimeter, making it a natural air conditioner and a forest oxygen bar. The beauty of Jinfo Mountain also lies in its unique views. The uncanny workmanship of nature bestows fantasy and mystery upon this mountain. Here, among the ranges of mountains hide extraordinary views. One can wander around and enjoy the magnificent waterfalls, karst caves, cliffs, and stone forests. Mountains are peculiar, rivers are rigorous, and stones are lovely. In spring, cuckoos nest among the mountains; in summer, it becomes a summer resort; in fall, forests turn yellow and red; in winter, the whole mountain range is dyed white. Every ten miles, one can appreciate a different climate scene. The beauty of Jinfo Mountain, again, lies in harmony. Here, 250,000 mu of primitive evergreen forests are home to over 5,900 vegetations and over 2,200 animal species. The primitive ecology of mountains and rivers wash away all the makeup of life, and give you back a pure, innocent lifestyle. The beauty of Jinfo Mountain, therefore, lies in magnificent mountains and rivers and idyllic countryside.

Chinese people always value harmony between man and nature, follow nature’s course, and advocate for co-existence and co-prosperity with everything else. So, preserving Jinfo Mountain will benefit future generations. In recent years, we have been, based on the foundation of nature and the expectation of people, preserving the authenticity and integrity of Jinfo Mountain, consolidating the conviction of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” strengthening three major methods—planning and layout, resource protection, and management and innovation. In doing so, we fully took the responsibility of protecting and administering this land, and achieved positive interaction between heritage preservation and exploitation. During this process, we kept enhancing the essence of ecology, reshaping ecological structure, increasing the value of ecology, and fulfilling the promise of preserving natural heritages. As a result, we created a pattern of green development for Nanchuan District, unfolding a splendid scroll of beautiful ecology, promising industry, and rich residents on this very land. Nature gives back in full as long as we respect nature. We feel relieved that the natural ecology of Jinfo Mountain makes the entire Nanchuan District a paradise. As of now, Nanchuan has maintained the record of “zero confirmed case” of COVID-19.

Some say that heritage protection and tourism development do not go together. We hold the opposite idea. We think protection and development can help and facilitate each other. In recent years, we have always been striving to combine both, tapping into Jinfo Mountain’s scarcity value, expanding its supply chain and value chain, and enhancing its significance as a natural heritage and an AAAAA-level core scenic resource. In addition, we have extended sightseeing tours to wellness tours, experience tours, and in-depth tours, and successfully created world-renowned brands—“Greener Jinfo Greater Nanchuan,” and “Pure Land of World Heritage and Wellness Resort.” By doing so, we are aimed at building a destination of wellness travel and mountain outdoor sport with international influence, to develop more tourism projects and enrich tour experience. Now, we have established a product line of “Jinfo + spring, summer, autumn and winter;” four business patterns—traditional Chinese medicine wellness, cultural tourism wellness, forest wellness, and sports wellness; as well as mountain outdoor sport brands that integrate winter skiing, cross-country mountain road, parachute, Via Ferrata, canyoning, rafting, and self-driving.

For a while, the catastrophic shock of COVID-19 dragged world tourism into the coldest winter ever. But after surviving the winter, world tourism shows completely different momentums and development features, with health and wellness drawing people’s attention. Such alternation stands for a rare opportunity towards high-quality progress for the tourism sector in the post-COVID world. Tourism in Jinfo Mountain is like a sprout in early spring, breaking through the layer of ice and snow, and thriving while basking in sunshine. We wish to share with all of you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let’s join hands in constructing the new structure of tourism development. Of course, while we are pushing forward natural heritage protection and green development, we still face many new issues. How to keep a higher-level of dynamic balance between protection and development? How to increase the economic benefits of green industries? How to better protect natural sites and coordinate the production and life problems of indigenous people. We are looking forwarding to your suggestions and advice.

Distinguished government officials, experts, scholars, and friends, protecting natural heritages and promoting green development is a course that will never end. We sincerely hope that, at this summit, we can pool the intelligence and strength of everyone, and jointly elevate the preserving and sharing of Jinfo Mountain’s natural heritages onto a higher ground.

Last, I wish this summit a complete success, and wish all of you a pleasant and fruitful stay in Nanchuan District.