In the high mountains of southwest China's
Yunnan
Province three rivers, the Nujiang, Jinshajiang and
Lancangjiang flow clear and unpolluted through an area of unspoilt
natural beauty.
The Sanjiang (three rivers) Region is a place of world-class
geological wonders and home to a gene bank of striking
bio-diversity. On July 2 this year, it was included in the World
Heritage List during the 27th session of the UNESCO's World
Heritage Committee. Having 1.7 million hectares, it became the
second largest area on the list.
With it come nine nature reserves and ten scenic spots variously
belonging to Lijiang City, the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
and the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture.
Sanjiang is a veritable museum of some of the world's most
important geology and geomorphology. Some 40-50 million years ago
the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates met head-on. Great
mountains would be pushed up as the Eurasian plate began to
override the Indian sub-continent and so the folds of the Hengduan
Mountains came to be raised up creating a truly remarkable
landscape. Its three major rivers run parallel along a length of
some 170 km. There is nowhere else like it anywhere in this
world.
In
this 150 km wide region, the Nujiang is just 18.6 km from the
Lancangjiang at their closest and at one point the Nujiang and the
Jinshajiang actually come within an amazing 66.3 meters of each
other.
Every kind of landscape to be found in the Northern Hemisphere
other than desert and ocean, can be found here including
magnificent snow-capped mountains and glaciers, precipitous Danxia
cliffs and wonderful karst formations.
The region has 118 snow-capped mountains over 5,000 meters above
sea level and varying widely in form. With them come many hectares
of untouched forest and several hundred glacial lakes.
Highest among them at 6,740 meters is the snow-capped Meili
Mountain with its 10,000-year-old glaciers. Crystal-clear and
sparkling, the ice makes its way ever so slowly from high on the
peak down to the Mingyongcun Forest at 2,700 meters. It is
considered to be the world's finest monsoon glacier and remarkable
for its descent to such a low altitude. For thousands of years,
Tibetan people have regarded the Meili as a holy mountain. To this
day they respect the need to obtain permission before going on the
mountain.
The Danxia landforms in the Laojun Mountains in the Lijiang Area,
picturesque in their forest setting, are both the biggest and the
best-formed examples of this geomorphology in China. In places the
red cliffs have weathered away to leave formations said to look
like tortoises. On the aptly named thousand tortoise mountain, one
can imagine at first a single large tortoise and then on closer
inspection see it to be made up of the regular ranks of thousands
of small tortoises.
Ranking first among China's 17 key bio-diversity areas, the
Sanjiang Region with its precious gene bank has been acclaimed as
being of world class importance. With its topography carved and
polished by the continental glaciers of the Quaternary Glacial
Period, its mountainous ridges and passes run north to south. The
region has not only been an ancient migratory route for the flora
and fauna of Eurasia but has also become a safe haven for so many
of the plants and animals which passed this way.
Though accounting for less than 0.4 percent of the area of the
country, the region plays host to more than 20 percent of the
country's most important plants and 25 percent of its animal
species. Today the region is home to 77 animals under state-level
protection including the Yunnan golden monkey, antelope, snow
leopard, Bengali tiger and black-necked crane. It has 34 kinds of
plants under state-level protection including the China fir,
(Cunninghamia lanceolata), the spinulose tree fern
(Cyathea spinulosa) and the Chinese yew (Taxus
chinensis).
Every year when spring comes again, the Sanjiang Region becomes a
sea of flowers. There are 200 kinds of azaleas, nearly 100 kinds of
gentian (Gentiana scabra), and primroses,
Scrophylariaceae, Cypripedium and lilies for everyone to
enjoy. It is little wonder that botanists look on it as a natural
mountain garden.
Over the past 20 years, the State Council and the provincial
government of Yunnan have invested tens of billions of yuan in
major environmental protection projects. These have included forest
protection, water and soil conservation, and schemes for the
protection of rare plants and animals. Local people also take an
active part in the drive to protect the ecology and the
environment.
In
the Laojun Mountains, tourists who bring their garbage back to the
hotel instead of throwing it away are rewarded with a free
breakfast to the value of 15 yuan provided by local tourist
companies. Though there are plenty of tourists, garbage is not a
problem in this scenic spot.
(China.org.cn translated by Li Jingrong July 16, 2003)