This Day, That Year

40 years on

Editor’s Note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

In February 2004, eight Chinese parks were put on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s first list of geoparks in Paris.

Now there are 127 UNESCO geoparks across 35 countries, with 35 located in China.

Short for geological park, geoparks originate from an international program initiated by UNESCO, referring to areas that have unique geological landforms and represent a particular geological era in the history of the planet.

In December, the Ministry of Land and Resources nominated four scenic spots in Guizhou, Gansu, Fujian and Hunan provinces as UNESCO geoparks.

As visitor numbers to geoparks soar, local tourism authorities are facing challenges in environmental protection.

Huangshan in Anhui province was named a world cultural and natural heritage in 1990, and joined the UNESCO-supported Global Geoparks Network in 2004.

In 2016, the mountain range attracted more than 3.3 million visitors, more than 30 times the number in 1978.

Given the increase in the number of visitors, tourism officials in Huangshan have taken additional measures to ensure the integrity of the local environment. A team is in place to deal with littering. Special personnel have been assigned to take turns to watch the “Guest-Greeting Pine”, at least 800 years old. It takes its name for the ‘greeting” its extended branches seem to give visitors. There are more than 100 trees on the mountain, each more than 100 years old.