The newly-developed Yarlung Zampo Grand Canyon Tourism Zone in Tibet's Nyingchi Prefecture has received 70,000 tourists so far this year, according to the Regional Tourism Bureau.
The zone is expected to be visited by more than 100,000 people at the end of 2009, an official of the bureau said.
Tibet Tourism Co. Ltd began to develop the tourism zone in 2004. According to Zhang Yong, special assistant to the chairman of the company, through the company's efforts, the Grand Canyon has become a new trademark of tourism in Nyingchi and Tibet.
File photo of Xinhua shows the Yarlung Zampo Canyon in Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua Photo) The company will make greater efforts to make it a national tourism scenic spot in three to five years, and a world-class one in five to ten years.
The tourism zone opened to the public in August 2008. To date, construction of the Gang-Pai Highway, the sightseeing platform on Mt. Nanjiabawa, and the tourist reception center in Pai Township have been finished.
Another ten projects including a hotel on the mountain peak and the Gega Hot Spring Resort will begin to be undertaken in the next two years.
At present, two tourist routes, i.e., a water route and a land route, have been built to link Bayi Township, capital of Nyingchi Prefecture, to Pai Township in Mainling County.
Several hiking and drifting routes will be open in the future, according to Zhang.
Local residents dance during the opening ceremony of the 5th Yarlung Zampo Grand Canyon Cultural and Tourism Festival in Bomi County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Oct. 13, 2009.(Xinhua/Chogo) To tackle environmental problems caused by the increasing number of tourists, several special environmental protection teams have been set up. Garbage in the tourism zone will be sent to garbage treatment plants in Mainling County. Sewage and flotage will be cleaned promptly by workboats.
The 504 km-long Yarlung Zampo Grand Canyon stretches from Daduka Village, Mainling County in the north and ends in Baxika Village, Medog County in the south.
The canyon has an average depth of 2,800 m, and is 6,009 m at the deepest point. It is the longest and deepest canyon in the world. Some parts of it have never seen human presence by far for the special geographical conditions, and the newly-developed tourism zone is just the entrance to the canyon.
Source: Xinhuanet
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