River now a tourist draw after huge green drive
Print Edition
Upon arriving at a scenic spot on the Lijiang River, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Li Fang took out a 20-yuan paper note to use in a photo with her husband.
Printed on the back of the note is the landscape she and her husband stood in front of in Yangshuo County in Guilin. The hot tourist destination was first printed on the 20-yuan note in 2000, one in the fifth set of China’s currency banknotes.
“The green mountains and lucid waters are picturesque, and I really enjoyed the environment while taking a raft downstream,” said Li, 32.
Hailed as one of the most beautiful rivers on earth, the Lijiang River stretches more than 400 kilometers through scenic karst mountains, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
According to a national water assessment result released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in mid-April, the Lijiang River ranked among the top 10 in the country’s water environment quality in the first quarter of this year.
The idyllic scenery is a sharp contrast to some 20 years ago when the area suffered from pollution and deforestation. Pig farms and restaurants discharged wastewater in the river, and sand-mining vessels also contaminated the water.
In 2012, China raised the vision of building a “Beautiful China,” with ecological progress included in its integrated plan for development. In the same year, the first regional regulations on ecological and environmental protection of the Lijiang River came into force, emphasizing the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
To protect the river, local governments rolled out a series of policies and measures and made all-out efforts to reduce pollution, including closing polluting plants and cracking down on illegal sand mining.
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