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"it's sad that the core protection area of ​​three parallel rivers has been turned into a mountain mud land by internet celebrities." recently, science blogger "o阿蒙o" exposed the situation on weibo: due to the disorderly development of mountain hiking tourism, the alpine vegetation in nanjie luo, located in the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site, has been severely damaged.

nanjieluo (also known as "nanjieluo", "nanjiluo" and "nanjiluo") is a natural village in achidaga village, badi township, weixi lisu autonomous county, diqing tibetan autonomous prefecture, yunnan province, also known as the nanjieluo group. in lisu language, nanjieluo means "a place for cattle and sheep to graze".

nanjieluo, a popular tourist destination on the internet in recent years, usually refers to the beautiful alpine valley near this natural village. it is misty here, with fir trees scattered in different heights, lush alpine rhododendrons, white satin-like waterfalls winding down along the mossy green mountain, and large and small glacial lakes and moraine lakes forming communities, interspersed here. a variety of alpine plants gather here: meconopsis, rockbeard, primula bellflower, long whip rhodiola rosea, cardamine large-leaf, corydalis tallii...

in vlogs (video weblogs) and photographs, nanjie luo is a wonderland that is rarely visited and beyond description, and is "the last tear left by god in the world." however, in various "weed-pulling experience posts," it is a "black scenic spot" with chaotic management, unreasonable fees, serious vegetation trampling and damage, and potential safety hazards.

lake no. 5, which brings together lakes, waterfalls and cliffs, is the most popular tourist attraction on the nanjieluo alpine hiking route. the surrounding area is also the area where vegetation is most severely trampled. photo by our reporter wang yu

in july this year, the ice and snow had not yet melted, and the trails that were trampled out and covered with ice and snow did not have any safety facilities. some tourists slipped and fell during the hike, resulting in injuries.

few people know that the julong lake scenic area where nanjieluo is located is one of the ten scenic areas of the three parallel rivers scenic area, and it was awarded the title of a national scenic area as early as august 1988. in july 2003, the three parallel rivers scenic area was successfully declared a world natural heritage site, and nanjieluo also became a part of the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site. this means that its conservation value is recognized by the contracting parties to the convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage.

with the halo of world natural heritage for 21 years and a national scenic spot for 36 years, why did such chaos occur in nanjie luo?

fragile ecology and safety risks

at the foot of biluo snow mountain, in badi village, where the government of badi township of weixi county is located, local resident zhao ping invested more than 3 million yuan to open a restaurant and a homestay. provincial highway 237, dewei highway, passes through the township along the right bank of the lancang river. the entire badi township is connected to the outside world only by this highway. this is the only way to enter nanjieluo from south to north.

business is booming, but while zhao ping is receiving hiking tourists, she is saddened by the damage they have done to this high mountain valley. she pointed to a photo she took on her phone at lake no. 5 in nanjieluo in 2023 and said, "look how beautiful it was back then, a sea of ​​flowers, but now they've all been trampled away."

zhao ping (pseudonym), the owner of a b&b in badi township, has a photo of lake no. 5 in nanjieluo in 2023 saved on her phone. in the past, every summer, the area around lake no. 5 became a sea of ​​flowers. in high-altitude areas, many plants need to grow for 20 years or even longer to reach the height shown in the photo. reproduced by our reporter wang yu

there are generally two routes for tourists who come to nanjieluo for hiking. both routes are connected by lakes. from lake no. 3 to lake no. 5 and then back to lake no. 3, this is a small loop that takes about 3 hours and covers a distance of 5 kilometers. starting from lake no. 3, passing lake no. 5, climbing over the pass at an altitude of about 4,500 meters, passing lakes 7, 8, and 9 in turn, and returning to lake no. 3, this is a large loop that takes about 6 hours and covers a distance of 10 kilometers.

china newsweek visited the site and found that the area around lake no. 5, where both the large and small loops pass, was bare and exposed due to trampling of vegetation, which was about the size of a basketball court. in addition, due to the heavy rain in the area, the trails formed by trampling vegetation are often muddy. in order to avoid getting stuck in the mud, tourists will step on the vegetation on both sides of the trails, thus the width of the trails continues to expand, and the area of ​​trampled vegetation continues to expand.

the big loop is about 10 kilometers long, and the small loop is about 5 kilometers long. the hiking routes in nanjieluo are all trampled by tourists. before august, the ice and snow on the route have not completely melted. many tourists go up the mountain with crampons, which is more destructive to vegetation than in midsummer. photo by our reporter wang yu

these vegetations are different from the grasslands in the plains. kui yanli, a member of the landscape and environmental planning and design academic committee of the china urban planning society and a professor at the school of public administration of renmin university of china, told china news weekly that in some alpine tundra zones above 2,000 meters, low plants look like meadows, but they are actually perennial shrubs such as alpine rhododendrons. these shrubs need 20 years to grow to this height. "if you step on them, they will disappear. they are very fragile and difficult to recover."

"many research documents from china and abroad have shown that in the high mountain areas of northwest yunnan, which are of great significance for biodiversity, hiking trails have a great impact on vegetation, especially on some small plant communities." wei lai, associate professor at the school of life sciences of beijing normal university, told china newsweek that compared with plants growing in low-altitude environments, perennial plants in high-altitude environments with more severe environments will find it very difficult to recover after being destroyed.

"the rock whisker, the alpine plant that is most trampled on in nanjie luo, takes decades to grow a whole patch, but it will be gone if people step on it," said wei.

nanjieluo is home to a wide variety of alpine plants, many of which are difficult to name even with professional image recognition software. figure 2 shows pteridium anserine; figure 4 shows meconopsis ovata, which is popular among plant lovers; and figure 5 shows rockbeard, which is severely affected by trampling. currently, there are more than 80 species of meconopsis ovata found in the world, and the three parallel rivers area in northwest yunnan is one of the most important distribution centers of meconopsis ovata. photo by our reporter wang yu

knowing that nanjieluo's fragile ecology is in danger due to high-altitude hiking in recent years, wei lai began to investigate the distribution and population of rare and endangered plants represented by meconopsis lutea in nanjieluo in 2022, and to assess the growth status and threatening factors of endangered species. however, because "scientific research on biluo snow mountain can be described as almost blank" in the past, it is currently difficult to accurately assess the impact of high-altitude hiking on nanjieluo.

besides environmental damage, what worries tourists and operators like zhao ping more is personal safety. to enter the nanjieluo scenic area, you must pass through achidaga village. the economic cooperative organized by the achidaga village committee has set up a checkpoint here to allocate entry quotas, provide accommodation, and transport tourists up and down the mountain, forming a nanjieluo tourism service industry chain.

according to the regulations of achidaga village, tourists entering the nanjieluo scenic area are required to make reservations and limit the flow of people. 200 places are open for entering the mountain every day. tourists are picked up and dropped off by off-road vehicles sent by the village cooperative and are not allowed to go there on their own.

but this mountain road is full of hidden dangers. "there are 43 turns in the 17-kilometer road. this is an abandoned mine road, only more than 3 meters wide, and the road surface is full of deep potholes. because the road is narrow and the bends are big, drivers often have to 'reverse' to pass through the sharp bends. however, there are no guardrails on the side next to the cliff, and the tires often scrape the edge of the cliff when turning." after visiting nanjieluo in august, a tourist recorded his fear in detail in his travel notes.

what is even more worrying is that on social media, experience posts mentioning this stretch of road always emphasize that the vehicles transporting tourists do not have operating qualifications, and once an accident occurs, tourists will not be able to claim compensation or pursue responsibility.

china newsweek conducted an on-site interview and found that this was indeed the case. all of this started in 2017 when the weixi county government began to develop tourism in the nanjieluo scenic area.

the game between sdic and villagers

on april 21, 2017, the weixi county government issued a document to transfer the 20-year tourism resource development and operation rights of the nanjie luo scenic area to the weixi county development investment holding group co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "weixi guotou"), requiring the company to do a good job in the development and construction of scenic spots and property rights management of the nanjie luo scenic area.

at this time, nanjieluo has been discovered by some hiking enthusiasts, and has gradually become known in the hiking circle since 2016. one month after obtaining the development and operation rights, weixi state investment introduced kunming iron and steel holding co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "kunming iron and steel group") to jointly establish yunnan biluo snow mountain cultural tourism investment co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "biluo tourism investment"). three months later, on august 30, weixi state investment transferred the development and operation rights of nanjieluo scenic area to biluo tourism investment.

when deciding to develop nanjieluo, weixi county's goal was to turn it into a 5a scenic spot. however, due to the failure of attracting investment, the preliminary work of biluo tourism investment to develop nanjieluo did not go smoothly. in 2019, kunming iron and steel group decided not to continue investing in biluo tourism investment.

at present, biluo tourism investment has been renamed weixi tourism investment. xiong yinqiang, general manager of weixi tourism investment, told china news weekly that since its establishment in 2017, biluo tourism investment has tried to promote the preparation of scenic area planning with the county cultural and tourism bureau, but failed. in addition, biluo tourism investment also surveyed and mapped this high mountain canyon, with a total expenditure of 2.37 million yuan.

due to the lack of any income, in june 2022, weixi guotou asked the weixi county government for approval to carry out nanjie luo hiking tours in accordance with the requirements of the "notice of the general office of the yunnan provincial people's government on several policy measures for accurate prevention and control of the epidemic and accelerating the recovery and development of the tourism industry". this application was approved by the county government.

afterwards, chabuduoga company simply maintained the hiking route, installed electric barriers and monitoring systems at the entrance of the achidaga village committee and the forest and grass checkpoint on the way up the mountain, and negotiated with achidaga village. the two sides decided to jointly operate the nanjieluo lake route. the vehicles were purchased by the villagers themselves, and each tourist was charged 300 yuan, of which 50 yuan was turned over to the collective. soon after, chabuduoga company's operations came to a standstill.

in fact, shortly after chabuduoga company was approved to carry out hiking tourism business in nanjieluo, the weixi county government received the "reminder letter from the diqing prefecture forestry and grassland bureau on effectively strengthening the management of the three parallel rivers national scenic area."

in this "reminder letter", the forestry and grassland bureau of diqing prefecture stated that it had received multiple phone reports that the nanjieluo scenic area in weixi county had the risk of triggering conflicts such as ownership disputes among local residents due to disorderly tourism. the forestry and grassland bureau of diqing prefecture issued a work reminder: nanjieluo belongs to the julong lake scenic area of ​​the three parallel rivers national scenic area, and units with corresponding qualifications should be selected to undertake the planning of the scenic area. if the planning of the scenic area is not approved, various construction activities shall not be carried out in the scenic area.

based on this, on october 14, 2022, the weixi county forestry and grassland bureau issued a notice to weixi state investment, requiring weixi state investment to stop the construction and tourism business activities of the julong lake scenic area in the three parallel rivers national scenic area, organize the preparation of the julong lake scenic area plan as soon as possible, and submit the plan for approval in a timely manner. after obtaining the approval letter from the scenic area management department at or above the provincial level, it shall be constructed according to the plan and carry out tourism operations legally and in compliance with regulations.

the weixi county forestry and grassland bureau has a basis for suspending business activities. according to the "yunnan province three parallel rivers world natural heritage site protection regulations", the business projects, business locations and business scales within the three parallel rivers scenic area shall be determined by the three parallel rivers scenic area management agency based on the detailed planning of the scenic area, and the operating rights shall be clarified through bidding, auctioning and other means.

in fact, three months before the weixi county forestry and grassland bureau issued this notice, the operation of chabuduoga company had become unsustainable due to conflicts with villagers over the distribution of interests.

in january 2023, according to the requirements of weixi state investment, chabuduoga company was merged into weixi tourism investment. after that, weixi tourism investment, achidaga village and badi township held several communications and negotiations under the auspices of the county culture and tourism bureau, but still failed to reach an agreement on the profit distribution plan.

on june 26, 2023, when negotiations failed, weixi tourism investment issued the "announcement on the trial restoration of hiking, photography and sightseeing on the nanjie luohu lake area route".

fearing that weixi tourism investment's management would deepen conflicts with the villagers, ten days later, on july 4, the weixi county government held a meeting to study weixi state investment's request for "the county government to take back the management rights of nanjie luo's tourism resources."

after that, the management rights of nanjieluo's tourism resources were taken back, and weixi tourism investment withdrew from the operation of nanjieluo. on august 30, 2023, the weixi county forestry and grassland bureau once again issued the "notice on further strengthening the ecological and environmental protection of the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site (nanjieluo area)", which clearly prohibits any unit, individual, or tourist from entering the nanjieluo area of ​​the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site.

close the mountain or welcome guests?

however, in 2023, a large number of tourists flocked to nanjie luo, and through the spread of social platforms such as xiaohongshu and douyin, nanjie luo became a veritable "internet celebrity secret place."

with the arrival of more and more hikers, the villagers of achidaga village, who have been herding or working outside for generations, have seen business opportunities and tasted the sweetness at their doorstep. they continue to use motorcycles, vans and other vehicles to carry passengers up the mountain. in the summer of 2023, each driver can transport three groups of guests up the mountain every day. after winter, even when the mountain is closed due to heavy snow, there are still tourists coming. the safety hazards brought about by this are also increasing day by day.

the "43 turns" leading from the nanjieluo group of achidaga village to the alpine lakes. photo/provided by the interviewee

four days before the spring festival in 2024, the snow had already reached the knees and heavy snow was falling on the mountain. before 9 o'clock, mao xuegang, then deputy director of the weixi county culture and tourism bureau, received news: villagers reported that tourists had hiked into the mountain again in the fog and snow.

there is no communication signal in the mountains, and tourists who enter the mountains lack organization, usually entering in groups of two or three, which means that if they encounter danger, they will not be able to seek help in time. a search and rescue team led by mao xuegang and composed of civil servants from various government departments went into the mountains to search for people.

similar situations always happen. with experience in search and rescue, mao xuegang and his team went to the forest fire prevention checkpoint set up by the county forestry and grassland bureau halfway up the mountain. they first looked through the "nanjieluo checkpoint commitment letter".

this document stipulates that all personnel entering the mountain from the checkpoint must register, scientific research and camping are not allowed in the forest area, entry into the forest area is prohibited after 5 pm, and everyone must go down the mountain to the checkpoint before 6 pm. they are responsible for any personal safety problems that occur after entering the mountain.

the most common route into the mountain is through the checkpoint. since the forest ranger has no law enforcement power, he is not responsible for persuading tourists to return, but he will ask tourists entering the mountain from this checkpoint to sign a letter of commitment. for mao xuegang, checking people is the first step in persuading them to return and searching for them. after counting the letters of commitment one by one, it was found that in such bad weather, about 60 people entered the mountain.

"after catching up with the tourists, we had to keep asking them, are there any other people ahead of you?" it was snowing heavily, and the fastest tourists had already reached lake no. 5. the search and rescue, and persuasion to return continued until night. only then did mao xuegang discover that the actual number of people who entered the mountain that day was 76, including a child. "if you fall into such deep snow, you will be buried immediately and cannot be seen. if someone slips and falls into the snow, no one will know if they die in the mountains."

in fact, in order to avoid safety accidents, weixi county forestry and grassland bureau, transportation bureau and other industry authorities have tried to "close" the nanjieluo area by issuing notices and setting up checkpoints to dissuade tourists. however, the supervisors of these departments also told china news weekly that it is difficult to stop tourists.

there is no guardrail installed on the cliff side of the abandoned mine tunnel "turn 43". photo/provided by the interviewee

"nanjie luo is an undeveloped area. from the perspective of tourism development, it has not obtained the corresponding planning approval. hiking tourists are privately received by the villagers. as a forestry and grassland department, we can only increase the intensity of mountain patrols and strengthen publicity and dissuasion when tourists arrive at the checkpoints." li qingtian, director of the weixi county forestry and grassland bureau, told china news weekly that there are dozens of ecological rangers in achidaga village. in addition to routine mountain patrols, they can only dissuade tourists, but they do not have the law enforcement power or the ability to forcibly block tourists.

yang wenwu, secretary of the party committee of the weixi county transportation bureau, told china newsweek that in addition to weixi county and deqin county in diqing prefecture, the biluo snow mountain where nanjie luo is located also spans gongshan county, fugong county, and lanping county in nujiang prefecture. there are too many entrances to the nanjie luo area over the mountain. even if the main passage is blocked, tourists can still enter the mountain from other passages, but the routes of these passages are not clear enough and the risks are greater.

in 2023, for the sake of traffic safety, in order to prevent tourists from driving into the mountains, the weixi county transportation bureau set up concrete roadblocks at the forest fire prevention checkpoint. after the roadblocks were set up, they did not play the expected role. villagers still used motorcycles to carry passengers up the mountain. when they encountered roadblocks, they lifted their motorcycles to get over them. the concrete roadblocks became a new safety hazard. yang wenwu said that they had no choice but to remove the roadblocks.

a bird's-eye view of the tourist gathering place at the no. 3 lake. after taking the off-road vehicle of the achidaga village economic association up the mountain from the "43 turns", the tourists got off at the no. 3 lake and started hiking. since the julong lake scenic area where nanjie luo is located has not compiled a detailed scenic area plan, the nanjie luo gathering place only has a simple toilet and a small wooden shed selling food and hiking supplies. photo by our reporter wang yu

"from a management perspective, we certainly hope to strictly prohibit entry, and our department's responsibility can be minimized." he lichun, director of the weixi county culture and tourism bureau, told china news weekly. but the reality is that whenever the departments try to pass the pressure to badi township, they are counterattacked. "they said that if we want to close it, all the departments in the county will send us some people, and everyone will help us close it together." he lichun smiled bitterly.

mao xuegang, former deputy director of the culture and tourism bureau and current head of badi township, said: "the four words 'strictly prohibit' are very serious, but when it comes to implementation, we don't have enough manpower, material resources, financial resources and technical means."

mao xuegang told china newsweek that taking advantage of the heavy snow that closed the mountain, badi township tried to implement the ban of the county forestry and grassland bureau. "in the season when the snow was deeper than the houses, we set up a checkpoint in achidaga village at 7:30 in the morning, but the tourists went up the mountain at 5 o'clock. we changed the checkpoint to 4:30 in the morning, but found that they had entered the mountain at 3 o'clock. during that time, we were still pleased with the significant results of the interception during the day, but at night, we found that there was a steady stream of tourists coming down the mountain, and everyone was dumbfounded."

operating in the grey area

in the spring of 2024, the villagers of achidaga village took the initiative to find the village committee and asked to negotiate with government departments to stop "closing" nanjieluo and allow the nanjieluo scenic area to be managed and operated by the village collective.

li chunmei, deputy county head of weixi county, and mao xuegang both told china newsweek that in the face of "uncontrollable" tourists and villagers eager to profit from the tourism industry, the government's thinking has changed from "blocking" to "unblocking". "the government strictly enforces the law, and there will be no mistakes. but when it comes to the issue of nanjieluo, if the government's attitude is too tough, it will cause dissatisfaction among the villagers." li chunmei said.

"the villagers want to maximize their profits, so they reject the government's investment promotion. against the background of the introduction of the rural collective economic organization law, we think we can try to operate it through a cooperative established by the village collective. this is much more orderly than everyone being a boss and soliciting customers," said mao xuegang.

after the village collective took the lead, the focus shifted to how to make the income from tourism operations benefit the entire village.

"the first few people in the village who got a driver's license, had cars and were capable set up a team privately, but we never recognized this so-called team. they can only represent personal interests. since the village collective wants to do it, it is to use public resources to obtain public benefits." mao xuegang said that at first they thought that all residents would contribute to the purchase of cars, but even if each family only raised 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, many villagers could not afford the money. they also tried to obtain financing support through agricultural funds, but failed.

in the end, the cooperative chose the business model of villagers buying cars and registering with the cooperative. fuel, vehicle inspection, maintenance, and insurance are all borne by the drivers themselves, and one-third of the income from each seat is handed over to the collective. at the end of the year, after deducting the basic operating expenses of the cooperative, the profits are distributed among the whole village, in order to take into account those villagers who are unable to participate in the operation due to poverty and other reasons.

a driver interviewed by the reporter told the reporter that due to the poor road conditions and serious vehicle wear and tear, drivers have to replace two sets of tires and four brake pads every month. including the maintenance costs, the profit received by drivers is not as high as the outside world imagines. mao xuegang said that the proportion of drivers' income to be handed over to the collective was also discussed repeatedly. the village collective once proposed a plan to hand over half of the income, but it was precisely because of the above reasons that everyone finally accepted the plan of handing over one-third.

each passenger is charged 300 yuan, of which 100 yuan goes to the village collective and 200 yuan is kept by the driver, so each car earns 800 yuan a day. in addition, the driver can also serve as a guide, leading a hiking group on a large loop every day, which can earn 600 yuan. excluding vehicle maintenance expenses, based on actual work of 20 days a month, the drivers and guides of nanjieluo can earn up to 28,000 yuan a month.

on the nanjieluo hiking route, there are many scenes of alpine vegetation being trampled. although the achidaga village economic association claims that only 200 people are allowed to enter the mountain every day, the actual number of people entering the mountain is far more than this. photo/reporter wang yu

yu cunguang, a driver and guide of the association, told reporters that after the development of tourism in nanjieluo, his son, who used to work as a tour guide in shangri-la, also returned to the village to work as a guide and driver. his monthly income in shangri-la was more than 10,000 yuan, and his income increased instead of decreased after he returned. during the summer vacation, yu cunguang's daughter, who was still in college, also returned home to work as a tour guide.

accommodation brings another source of income. nanjieluo implements reservation restrictions, opening 200 places to enter the mountain every day. however, on social platforms, many tourists complained that it was difficult to book a place and the reservation phone number could not be reached. according to china news weekly, the quota is a "tight" resource and is allocated in advance by the association to badi village, where the badi township government is located, and the nanjieluo group in achidaga village, which is closest to the nanjieluo alpine canyon. these b&bs with limited conditions rely on the quota to lock in customers.

the number of beds in the nanjieluo group's homestays is equal to the number of places to enter the mountain. however, the homestays in badi village are different. zhao ping's homestay mentioned above has 18 beds, but only 4 places to enter the mountain.

data provided by the weixi county culture and tourism bureau showed that from june 6 to the end of july 2024, the achidaga village economic cooperative, which actually controls the operation of nanjie luo hiking sightseeing, received more than 14,000 tourists and its collective economic income reached 2.08 million yuan.

"achidaga village has 402 households and 1,257 villagers. it can be said to be the most remote and poorest administrative village in the county. before it was lifted out of poverty, it was synonymous with poverty and backwardness in weixi county." mao xuegang said that the development of high-altitude hiking tourism in nanjieluo has not only increased the collective income of the village, but also promoted the development of the surrounding economy. "the most obvious is our vegetable market. in the past, we could not sell all the pigs we slaughtered in a day. now there are more tourists, and we can even sell six or seven pigs a day. the radiation and drive of tourism as an industry that enriches the people is really amazing."

the cooperative's business seems to be booming, but its operations in a gray area, hidden dangers to tourists' safety, and vehicles without operating qualifications are all swords hanging over weixi county.

the weixi county transportation bureau has specially studied how to repair the long-standing dilapidated mine road "43 turns". the mountain road from the achidaga village committee to the nanjieluo group at an altitude of about 1,900 meters is a cement paved road that meets the technical standards of rural highway engineering; from the nanjieluo group up to the no. 3 lake at an altitude of 3,800 meters is the "43 turns".

yang wenwu said that the cement paving road was built to the nanjieluo group because it is a natural village and agricultural funds can be used to build roads for villagers' production and life. however, there are no more villages above the nanjieluo group, so funds cannot reach there and rural roads cannot be built there.

"at present, the '43 turns' do not meet the technical standards for rural road engineering. it is impossible for the transportation department to issue operating licenses for the cooperative's vehicles to drive and carry passengers on such a road." yang wenwu said that the weixi county transportation bureau had specifically studied the issue of the cooperative's vehicle operating qualifications, and finally everyone reached a consensus that these vehicles provide transportation services to tourists, which can be interpreted as tourists renting vehicles from the cooperative and hiring drivers, and the two parties are in a leasing contract relationship. only in this way can these vehicles avoid the risk of illegal operation.

many tourists believe that the drivers of the achidaga village fleet have been going up and down the "43 turns" all year round and are very familiar with it, but this is not the case.

after characterizing the fleet's services, the weixi county transportation bureau put forward two requirements for the cooperative's fleet: first, the driver must have more than one year of driving experience and no traffic accident record; second, drinking is not allowed on the day of picking up passengers, and the cooperative must be equipped with alcohol testers to check whether the drivers are driving under the influence every day.

"in the past, when people went to the market in badi village, villagers from other villages carried flour, rice and production tools on their motorcycles, but many people from achidaga village carried beer." yang wenwu told china news weekly that many villagers were alcoholics in the past, so the weixi county transportation bureau started from here to minimize the risk of accidents.

in badi township, in order to control the damage to vegetation caused by tourists trampling, mao xuegang mobilized villagers to do work in lieu of relief and laid stone slabs on the trails. this is a method he learned from douyin. dali and other places do this, and he thinks it is feasible. but after hearing the news, lu guoju, deputy director of the protected areas department of the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, showed concern: "any construction activities in scenic spots must be carried out according to the plan. the most urgent task is to make a plan first."

from the summer of 2023 to now, the weixi county government has thought about compiling a plan. however, due to a lack of understanding of the scenic area, the weixi county culture and tourism bureau compiled a tourism plan for the nanjieluo scenic area instead of a detailed plan for the scenic area. the planning path was wrong, and the development of nanjieluo is still not on the right track.

"now, we have no better way but to hope that a heavy snow will come soon," said he lichun.

(zhao ping is a pseudonym in this article)

reporter: wang yu