China's first national park, the Potatso National Park, was
inaugurated on Thursday in Shangri-La, an area famous for its
natural beauty in the southwest province of Yunnan.
The 2,000 square-km national park covers 17 percent of Diqing,
an autonomous prefecture mainly inhabited by Tibetans. Its
centerpiece sceneries are crystal-clear lakes, undulating mountains
and gurgling streams.
The local government started mapping out the park since early
last year and has spent more than 200 million yuan (US$26.3
million) on bolstering ecological tourism in the well-preserved
national park.
"By establishing the Potatso national park, China has taken the
first step in blending tourism development with nature protection,
" said Song Yinxiu, head of the park's administrative bureau.
Now about 69 km of blacktop roads have been built in two major
scenic spots, the Shudu Lake and Bita Lake, in Potatso. The roads
also serve as fire separation stripes.
Plank roads stretch 10 km along the mirror-like lakes to protect
the grasslands.
Seven solar-energy powered public toilets and shuttle buses
consuming clean energy are also used in the park to minimize
pollution.
During the past ten months of trial operational, the national
park received 600,000 visitors. More than half of the revenue from
ticket sales went to environment protection.
The world's first national park, Yellow Stone National Park, was
established in the United States in 1872. Now there are more than
9,800 national parks around the world.
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2007)
