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The Wenchuan earthquake devastated the scenic spots around Jiuzhaigou Valley. Shocked by the quake, many tourists canceled their travel schedule to Sichuan. In fact, over 80% of scenic spots in Sichuan Province are in good condition and all facilities there keep safe. “It is proved that Chengdu is worthy of the name of China’s Best Tourist City,” said Deng Gongli, director of Chengdu Tourist Bureau. Deng said: “the city’s tourism resources, tourism products, service personnel and tourist market are never destroyed. Only the scenic spots located in the quake-hit areas are damaged badly. According to the demand of China National Tourism Administration and governments at all levels, the operation of scenic spots in those quake-hit areas will be revitalized and resumed with different schedule. Besides, the city is grouping the new chance for the development of local tourism after the disaster.”
The scenic spots in the urban area of Chengdu or in the outskirts of the city, including Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Jinsha Site Museum, Wuhouci Temple, Dufu Thatched Cottage, Jinli Street, Wenshu Fun, Kuanxiangzi and Zhaixiangzi (Wide and Narrow Alleys), Huanglongxi Ancient Town, Luodai Ancient Town, Pingle Ancient Town, etc., are still in good condition. Hotels and other tourist infrastructure keep the same situation as before. Scenic spots in the province, including Emei Mountain, Leshan Giant Buddha, Siguniang Mountain, Hailuogou Valley, Shunan Bamboo Sea, etc., are never influenced by the earthquake, keeping well reception capability and security. Anxiousness of tourists can be eliminated totally.
Panda Base: operation never stopped
“Even on the day of May 12, the base was open to tourists,” said Zhang Zhihe, director of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, “although some houses are damaged, the normal life of pandas is not disrupted. Since the earthquake, the base has been open to tourists.”
“We can’t pause operation. We have no reason to do so,” Zhang said. Although cracks caused by the earthquake appear on the wall of a few houses, the tourists’ safety can be guaranteed. Zhang said, “Since the earthquake, the panda base has been much quieter. Only dozens of tourists come here every day, a 98% decline compared to the same period of last years when the daily tourist reception kept over 3,000 persons. For the Panda Base, the direct economic loss from the earthquake is several million yuan.” He said: “Even if only one tourist comes here every day, the Panda Base will never stop operation.”
After the earthquake, the lovely pandas still spend happy life at their home in a peaceful ambience at the Panda Base. “After the earthquake, we received eight pandas from Wolong Nature Reserve. After staying here for six days, they were sent to Beijing on May 24.” According to Tan Hongming, vice secretary of the Panda Base, pandas here live a normal life and the safety of tourists can be guaranteed absolutely. It is learned that the Panda Base is strengthening the psychological training for its employees, hoping to contribute to the psychological recovering after the disaster.
Pingle: Safety can be guaranteed
“It’s lucky that Pingle Ancient Town suffered no severe damage in the earthquake,” said Cao Yingyou, vice director of Pingle Township Scenic Spots Management Committee, “The local topographic features may account for this result; houses with wood structure stood firm in the earthquake, and the layout of square yards proved to be in good condition in the earthquake. Pingle was almost not influenced by the quake. No casualty of tourists was reported in Pingle during the earthquake.” In the Pingle Town Hotel, the tiles on the eave never moved and the wall inside or outside the hotel are intact. “All the rooms here have been booked for this weekend,” said Liu Xianhua, manager of the hotel, “Thanks to the strict surveillance on quality of the building, the hotel stood strong during the disaster.”
Recently, the revitalization plan for the tourist market in Pingle has been kicked off. To meet the market demand, the ancient town will launch some activities of folk arts and charity sales.
Pujiang County: to spend cool summer here
“Pujiang County is not located on the earthquake belt of the Longmen Mountains, so the earthquake will not interrupt the normal production and peaceful life here. This summer, the influx of tourists will probably rise rapidly in Pujiang because a lot of people will reschedule their tourist destinations in the disaster-hit areas to Pujiang. Therefore, the construction of tourist facilities, tourist infrastructure and tourist service in the county will be strengthened so that the county’s tourist level will be upgraded,” said Ou Junpo, deputy director of Pujiang County.
Some famous summer resorts in the city, such as Yinchanggou Valley, Huilonggou Valley, Qingcheng Mountain, Hongkou and Jiulonggou Valley, were destroyed by the earthquake. However, local people still have other good choices for a cool summer. The scenic spots in Pujiang County including Shixiang Lake, Xilai Ancient Town, Chaoyang Lake, etc., are all good places.
Chengdu: confident of revitalization
“The most damaged travel routes in the province are Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong travel route and Three Kingdom travel route, both are the most important travel routes in the province,” said Deng Gongli, “However, we should see the optimistic side. 80% tourism revenue of Chengdu comes from the revenue from scenic spots in the urban areas of the city. These scenic spots are not influenced by the earthquake and are open to tourists as usual.”
“When the earthquake jolted the city, local people engaged themselves to active rescue for tourists. They proved to be worthy of being citizens of ‘China’s Best Tourist City’,’” Deng said. He also expressed that the earthquake caused a loss of over 30 billion yuan to local tourism. However, the tourist infrastructure and personnel are still in good condition. But it takes some time for the city to recover and for tourist to erase anxiousness.
“Knowledge of local tourism from outside is inadequate,” he continued, saying that the order of the city has been resumed. Recently, as some significant theme tours have been launched, the reconstruction of scenic spots have been started.
Talking about the reconstruction, Deng Gongli quoted examples of Bali Island, Fuji Mountain and Lijiang. He said, “These global famous scenic spots are constructed after earthquakes. We are still confident to reconstruct those earthquake-hit scenic spots including Dujiangyan, Qingcheng Mountain and Yinchanggou Valley and make them more beautiful than before.” (Chengdu Weekly news)
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