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since the beginning of summer in northwestern yunnan, he lichun has not been able to sleep well.

as the director of the culture and tourism bureau of weixi lisu autonomous county, diqing tibetan autonomous prefecture, yunnan province, he has been running around for nan jie luo's affairs, fearing that something might go wrong with it.

nanjie luo, located near achidaga village, badi township, weixi county, has become popular on the internet in recent years because of its beautiful scenery. it has "broken the circle" to become a popular check-in spot for alpine hiking.

but few people know that nanjie luo, which has unified transportation vehicles, clear charging standards and clear hiking routes, does not currently have the conditions for carrying out tourism activities due to the lack of relevant planning, and it cannot even be called a real scenic spot.

over the past year or so, he lichun and her colleagues have been trying to find a way to legalize the tourism development of nanjieluo, but despite many efforts, there is still no sign of success.

"planning guidance is not sound, regional coordination is lacking; management strategies are not in place, resource protection is hindered; security facilities are not sound, safety hazards are prominent; the living and production activities of indigenous peoples bring resistance to the protection and development of the overall scenic area."

in august this year, the diqing state forestry and grassland bureau summarized the current predicament of nanjie luo in a situation report on the nanjie luo scenic spot.

tourists at the nanjieluo scenic area. photo/visual china

two rejected travel plans

weixi county began developing nanjieluo in 2017. at that time, nanjieluo, hidden in the high mountain canyon, had been discovered by some hiking enthusiasts and gradually spread in the hiking circle.

in fact, weixi county had been preparing to compile a plan for the nanjieluo scenic area from the beginning. after all, nanjieluo is part of the julong lake scenic area, one of the ten major scenic areas in the three parallel rivers scenic area. as early as august 1988, it was awarded the title of a national scenic area. in july 2003, the three parallel rivers scenic area was successfully listed as a world natural heritage site, and nanjieluo became a part of the world natural heritage site. it is impossible to develop and operate it at will.

at that time, the weixi county culture and tourism bureau and other units compiled a tourism plan for the entire julong lake scenic area, which included the development of nanjieluo. but the problem is that the northern part of the julong lake scenic area is located in deqin county, diqing prefecture, and does not belong to weixi county. according to the provisions of the tourism law, the tourism plan compiled by weixi county is approved by the county government.

"when the plan was being reviewed, the land department questioned it, saying that our plan included other people's land. the plan was not approved in our county at the time," said he lichun.

although the plan has not been approved, weixi county development investment holding group co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "weixi guotou"), which is responsible for the development of nanjie luo, has invested more than 2 million yuan. in order to develop and see benefits as soon as possible, in june 2022, knowing that there was no plan, the weixi county government still allowed chabuduoga tourism company, a subsidiary of weixi guotou, to carry out hiking in nanjie luo in accordance with the notice issued by yunnan province that year on accelerating the recovery and development of the tourism industry.

later, due to conflicts between chabuduoga tourism company and villagers of achidaga village over the distribution of interests, weixi state investment withdrew from the management of nanjieluo scenic area.

at this time, after being spread on social platforms, nanjieluo has become a veritable "internet celebrity secret place", and the villagers have also tasted the sweetness of making money at their doorstep. the achidaga village economic association took over the management of the nanjieluo scenic spot, formulated charging standards, hiking routes, and uniformly arranged vehicles to transport tourists. but the situation did not improve.

facing a large influx of tourists, weixi county, aware of the risks of violations and safety hazards, is also rushing to complete the formalities, hoping to quickly compile a plan and develop nanjieluo legally and in compliance with regulations. it was at this time that he lichun promised the county government leaders that the compilation of the nanjieluo tourism plan would be completed as soon as possible.

being located in a deep poverty-stricken area, weixi county had no experience in tourism development. for many years, the county did not even have an a-level tourist attraction. against this background, he lichun, who had just been transferred to the cultural and tourism bureau for a year and had no previous experience in cultural and tourism, referred to the general tourism development path and found a cultural and tourism planning company in beijing. at a price of 750,000 yuan, it took less than half a year to compile a "nanjieluo tourist attraction master plan (2023-2035)".

this time they learned from the lessons of the previous tourism plan and only prepared a plan for the nanjieluo area in weixi county, without covering the entire julong lake scenic area.

in november 2023, under the organization of the weixi county land and space planning committee office, an expert review group composed of provincial, state, and county experts in tourism, ecology, natural resources, planning, water affairs, and transportation reviewed and approved this tourism plan.

introduction to the scenic spots in meili snow mountain scenic area. photo/visual china

however, when he lichun took the plan to the county forestry and grassland bureau for filing, they told her that there were problems with the plan. for this reason, several departments in the county held another meeting. the participants from the county forestry and grassland bureau rejected the tourism plan compiled by the county culture and tourism bureau, saying that if nanjieluo was to be developed, the corresponding plan had to be reviewed by the forestry and grassland department, but he lichun did not get a clear answer on how to do it.

for a long time afterwards, he lichun and li chunmei, the deputy county magistrate of weixi county who was in charge of culture and tourism, thought that the problem lay with nanjieluo's status as a world natural heritage site.

the "nanjieluo tourism scenic area master plan (2023-2035)" compiled by the aforementioned cultural and tourism planning company shows that the "43 turns" mining road that transports tourists from achidaga village to the starting point of the hiking tour, the no. 3 lake at the starting point of the hiking tour, and the tourist distribution center are all marked as the "core area" of the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site. in the eyes of li chunmei, he lichun and others, once it is designated as the "core area", it means that no one can enter, and the development opportunities of nanjieluo are completely locked.

tao li, deputy director of the weixi county culture and tourism bureau, told china news weekly that when preparing the plan, the aforementioned culture and tourism planning company specifically asked the county culture and tourism bureau to issue a confidentiality letter, retrieved regional vector data, and compared the red lines of various types of protected areas. therefore, they believed in this result without a doubt.

but that is not the case.

there are 9 nature reserves and 10 scenic spots within the three parallel rivers world natural heritage site. according to the "yunnan province three parallel rivers world natural heritage site protection regulations", only the nature reserves within the heritage site will be divided into core areas, experimental areas, and buffer areas. it is indeed strictly prohibited for any unit or individual to enter the core area of ​​the nature reserve.

however, nanjieluo is a scenic spot within the heritage site, not a nature reserve. according to the regulations on scenic spots, there is a distinction between "core scenic spots" and "other scenic spots" within the scenic spot, and there is no concept of "core area".

lu guoju, a third-level researcher at the protection area division of the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, told reporters that 70% to 80% of nanjie luo's area has been designated as a first-level protection zone (also known as the "core scenic area"). according to relevant regulations, the construction of hotels, guest houses, training centers, sanatoriums and other buildings not related to the protection of scenic resources is prohibited in the area, but necessary infrastructure can be built.

it was not until april this year that experts from the ecological branch of the yunnan forestry survey and planning institute came to weixi county for research. to help he lichun, the county forestry and grassland bureau also invited him to attend an expert symposium. only then did he lichun find the way.

on june 17, 2024, he lichun made a special trip to kunming and visited the ecological branch of the yunnan forestry survey and planning institute and the yunnan forestry and grassland bureau. he finally figured it out: nanjie luo belongs to the three parallel rivers national scenic area, and it is necessary to hire a qualified planning unit to prepare a detailed plan for the scenic area in accordance with the provisions of the scenic area regulations, rather than the tourism plan they had previously made.

both the management function of scenic spots and the approval authority for detailed planning of scenic spots were transferred from the housing and construction department to the forestry and grassland department after the institutional reform in 2018. in other words, letting the culture and tourism bureau be responsible for compiling the tourism plan for nanjie luo was a wrong choice and a wrong path.

without planning, any development is illegal.

in order to apply for the world natural heritage, yunnan province began to apply to create the three parallel rivers national scenic area in 1982.

yang yang, deputy director of the world heritage office of the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, told china newsweek that according to the requirements of the convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, a project can only be listed as a world heritage site if it becomes a statutory protected area of ​​a contracting party and is protected and managed based on the laws and regulations of the contracting party.

in china, as a type of nature reserve, the scenic area system originated in the early days of reform and opening up. a scenic area refers to an area with ornamental, cultural or scientific value, with concentrated natural and cultural landscapes, beautiful environment, and suitable for people to visit or conduct scientific and cultural activities.

kui yanli, professor at the department of urban planning and management, school of public administration, renmin university of china, told china newsweek that typical scenic spots are usually located close to cities, such as west lake, huangshan mountain, slender west lake, and yueyang tower. they provide services to the city and encourage people to appreciate and experience the natural environment. therefore, the construction volume is relatively large and they were managed by the construction department in the past.

"objectively speaking, the three parallel rivers is different from ordinary scenic spots. it is far away from the city, very remote, and is dominated by natural landscapes with very few cultural landscapes." kui yanli analyzed that yunnan province chose to create a scenic spot instead of other types of nature reserves, in addition to applying for world heritage status, also because the "hat" of scenic spot can take into account the needs of local economic development on the basis of protection.

left: the waterfall at lake no. 5 is one of the most visited spots for tourists in nanjieluo, and it is also the hardest hit area for vegetation trampling. photo by our reporter wang yu

right: in order to reduce trampling near the no. 5 lake waterfall, in late august, the badi township government organized villagers from achidaga village to pave a stone path here. photo/provided by the interviewee

in 1982, the yunnan provincial construction committee organized experts in the province to form a resource survey team for the three parallel rivers scenic area, which conducted a 46-day field survey of the three parallel rivers area and produced the "resource survey and assessment report on the three parallel rivers scenic area in northwest yunnan". this is the first report that comprehensively reflects the scenic resources of the three parallel rivers area.

in 1987, based on this report, yunnan province requested the state council to list it as a national key scenic spot, and the request was approved a year later.

among all types of nature reserves in china, the laws and regulations on scenic spots are relatively sound. in 1985, the state council promulgated the "provisional regulations on the management of scenic spots". later, the state council made a comprehensive revision of the regulations and promulgated and implemented the "regulations on scenic spots" in 2006.

according to this regulation, the management agencies of scenic spots should take the planning as the basis and actively organize the unified development, construction and management of various facilities. any construction project must not violate the planning. in other words, before the planning is approved, any construction and development in the scenic spot is illegal.

the regulations further stipulate that scenic spot planning is divided into master planning (hereinafter referred to as the "master plan") and detailed planning (hereinafter referred to as the "detailed plan").

the master plan usually includes scenic resource evaluation, ecological resource protection measures, layout of major construction projects, development and utilization intensity, functional structure and spatial layout of scenic spots, scope of prohibited and restricted development, tourist capacity, etc.

the detailed plan is similar to the construction detailed plan in urban and rural planning. on the basis of the general plan, it determines the site selection, layout and scale of infrastructure, tourism facilities, cultural facilities and other construction projects, and clarifies the scope of construction land and planning and design conditions.

kui yanli said that the detailed plan of a scenic spot is the basis for the approval of administrative permits for construction and operation in the area. "if it is not prepared, or the (detailed) plan itself is of insufficient quality and does not conform to reality, construction and operation activities cannot be approved."

the master plan of the three parallel rivers scenic area was organized and compiled by the yunnan provincial department of housing and urban-rural development. after being reviewed by the yunnan provincial government and approved by the state council, it was approved and implemented by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development in 2005.

the master plan defines the scope and scale of the julong lake scenic area, and also clarifies that its characteristics are "plateau lakes as the characteristics" and "nanjieluo lake group as representative attractions", and points out that its main functions are scientific investigation, ecological and cultural tourism.

however, the detailed planning of the julong lake scenic area where nanjie luo is located has never been started. china news weekly found that the detailed planning of the three parallel rivers scenic area is lagging behind. among the ten major scenic areas, only the meili snow mountain scenic area, haba snow mountain scenic area, and lijiang laojun mountain scenic area have completed the detailed planning. public information shows that in 2016, under the auspices of the diqing prefecture housing and urban-rural development bureau, the preparation of the master plan for the qianhu mountain area and the detailed plan for the qianhu mountain scenic area was started, but it is unclear how the planning will proceed.

lu guoju, a third-level researcher at the protected areas division of the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, told china news weekly that there are no clear requirements for the deadline for the preparation of detailed plans in the law. in practice, it is usually carried out in accordance with the principle of "preparing one area after another is mature". due to the long investment cycle and slow returns of scenic spots, blind development without tourist flow often results in waste.

cross-regional and cross-departmental coordination challenges

in fact, the lack of detailed planning is not just a problem unique to julong lake scenic area or the entire three parallel rivers scenic area. in 2015, kui yanli participated in the ministry of housing and urban-rural development's supervision and law enforcement of national scenic areas and found that the lack of planning is a common problem in scenic areas.

then, she conducted a more detailed investigation and found that among the 225 national scenic spots, about 25% of them did not have an approved master plan, and 32% of them had expired master plans. the situation of detailed plan compilation was even worse. among the scenic spots inspected, 30.9% of them had problems with their detailed plans. on average, the area with detailed plans in these scenic spots only accounted for 46% of the construction area, which means that more than half of the construction area did not have detailed plans.

she believes that the lack of planning is mainly caused by weak planning awareness, complicated approval management procedures and lack of funds.

specifically speaking of the julong lake scenic area, kui yanli believes that the three parallel rivers scenic area is very scattered and distributed in several states, which is a relatively complex case of cross-regional governance and cross-regional joint protection in my country. if the scenic area is in a county, the county government can prepare detailed plans. however, the julong lake scenic area spans weixi and deqin counties in diqing prefecture. for such cross-regional protection and governance scenic areas, the planning must be organized by the higher-level government.

li limin, former director of the world heritage office of the forestry and grassland bureau of diqing prefecture, told china news weekly that during his tenure, deqin and weixi counties once formed the intention to jointly compile detailed plans and develop the julong lake scenic area. however, due to various reasons such as the adjustment of leading cadres, the plan was shelved.

there is a flat wetland near lake no. 9 in nanjieluo. tourists who hike on the grand loop must pass through here and then return to the tourist distribution center next to lake no. 3. since late august, villagers in achidaga village have built a wooden bridge and paved stone slabs here to prevent the trail from expanding disorderly. photo/provided by the interviewee

in response to the current hiking chaos in nanjieluo, both the protected areas department of the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau and the protected areas section of the diqing prefecture forestry and grassland bureau stated in an interview with china newsweek that the responsibility for the preparation of detailed regulations for the nanjieluo area lies with the county government, while the provincial and state-level authorities are more likely to focus on guidance and supervision.

but kuai yanli disagrees. "for scenic spots like julong lake, which are cross-regional and need to be governed and protected, the planning is not only the responsibility of the county government, but also the responsibility of the higher-level government." she believes that scenic spots are state property, and it is not reasonable to put all the protection responsibilities on the county government. "because of ecological protection, the development of local industries is already limited. now that tourism is to be developed, the higher-level government should provide necessary support for its early planning and development work through transfer payments and other means."

in fact, according to the relevant regulations of national scenic spots, it was previously the scenic spot management departments of the provincial and autonomous regional governments that were responsible for organizing the city, county governments and scenic spot management agencies where the national scenic spots are located to carry out the planning work.

in practice, when cross-regional coordination issues are difficult to resolve, some local governments often choose to "go it alone." similar to the situation where the julong lake scenic area spans two counties, the laowo mountain scenic area also spans weixi county in diqing prefecture and lanping county in nujiang prefecture. in 2018, nujiang prefecture announced the "detailed plan for the laowo mountain scenic area of ​​the three parallel rivers national scenic area (central and southern area)" (draft for comments). this plan shows that nujiang prefecture has abandoned the path of jointly planning the laowo mountain area with diqing prefecture, and cut out the central and southern area of ​​the scenic area located in nujiang prefecture for separate planning. in june 2021, the "biluo snow mountain scenic area development project" disclosed by the nujiang prefecture investment promotion bureau showed that the detailed planning work for the laowo mountain scenic area (central and southern area) has been completed.

the traditional lisu houses in nanjieluo. photo/ic

during an interview in diqing prefecture, china newsweek learned that the administrative division adjustment plan involving deqin and weixi counties has been finalized. in order to prevent deqin county from being disturbed by serious geological disasters, deqin county will be relocated southward to yezhi town, weixi county. this also means that badi township, which originally bordered deqin to the north of yezhi town, will be entirely assigned to deqin county.

as a result, the julong lake scenic area to which nanjie luo belongs will all fall under the jurisdiction of deqin county. many interviewees believe that this is good news for the future planning and development of nanjie luo. however, the preparation of the detailed plan for the julong lake scenic area will face other difficulties.

in the 2018 institutional reform, due to the need to integrate nature reserves, the management function of scenic spots was transferred from the housing and construction department to the forestry and grassland department.

in fact, as early as 2022, when weixi guotou just started to operate hiking tours in nanjieluo, the diqing forestry and grassland bureau issued a work reminder letter, reminding the weixi county government to prepare a scenic spot plan. but according to he lichun's recollection, when he was responsible for the preparation of the nanjieluo plan, he did not know that a detailed plan for the scenic spot should be prepared, and the staff of the county forestry and grassland bureau who took over the scenic spot work did not know much about it.

"it can be said that some scenic spots are not clear whether the relevant management functions are under the responsibility of the housing and construction department or the forestry and grassland department." wu bihu, member of the "14th five-year plan" expert committee of the ministry of culture and tourism and director of the tourism research and planning center of the school of urban and environmental studies of peking university, told china newsweek.

reasonable planning and management are of great significance to protecting the ecological environment of nanjieluo. photo/visual china

"in 2018, the management of scenic spots was theoretically transferred to the national forestry and grassland administration. however, during this period, the ministry of housing and urban-rural development put forward different opinions, believing that scenic spots should not only have natural protection but also cultural protection. this opinion was recognized by the state council and scenic spots can be regarded as an independent type of protected area." wu bihu believes that currently scenic spots are under dual leadership. both the housing and urban-rural development department and the forestry and grassland department have management rights over scenic spots and can provide guidance. relevant reforms need to be further streamlined.

in addition, from the actual situation of the subsequent planning, according to the general plan for the three parallel rivers approved for implementation in 2005, the tourism service base of julong lake scenic area is set in deqin county, yanmen town of deqin county is a tourism town, cizhong and jianmen are tourism villages, and weixi county, badi township and achidaga village are not even mentioned in the general plan. but in reality, because there is an abandoned mine road that can go up the mountain, tourists choose to enter the mountain from achidaga village, badi township, weixi county.

zhang yu, head of the protected areas section of the diqing prefecture forestry and grassland bureau, told china newsweek that the master plan does not clearly state that roads can be built within the julong lake scenic area, which may also bring difficulties to subsequent development.

"the master plan for the three parallel rivers was approved and implemented in 2005, almost 20 years ago. it is obvious that it is no longer suitable for today's situation. the scope delineated at that time was not necessarily very scientific, and there was no self-driving or hiking tour like today," said wu bihu.

in fact, the master plan for the three parallel rivers expired in 2020. however, due to the integration of nature reserves and other reasons, the new master plan has not been compiled yet. lu guoju told reporters that the yunnan provincial forestry and grassland bureau is currently preparing for the preparation of the new master plan, including raising funds. before the new master plan is completed, the expired master plan is still valid, and the detailed plan of the julong lake scenic area can still be promoted based on the expired master plan.

kui yanli believes that for the three parallel rivers, the preparation of a new master plan provides an opportunity to re-examine the needs and interests of all parties. she suggested: "we should take this opportunity to clarify which areas can be developed and which areas cannot be developed, accurately define the scope, and clearly inform local governments of the development process. the system design should resolve the contradiction between development and protection."

published in the 1157th issue of china newsweek magazine on september 23, 2024

magazine title: nanjie luo trapped in the plan