Green Landscapes and Mass Tourism

Today, we did not have to travel very far for once, as the tourist destination Jiangshanyinghua was located not far from our hotel. However, calling it a tourist attraction hardly does it justice—the crowds were enormous, almost beyond imagination. If you want to enjoy nature in peace, it feels somewhat contradictory. Nevertheless, the vast green landscapes were truly impressive. I am familiar with such greenery from back home, but seeing it on this scale is something entirely different.

Unfortunately, the snow-capped mountains behind the green hills only appeared occasionally. Overall, however, we were quite lucky with the weather. It rained several times during the day, but almost always while we were on the bus travelling to the next viewpoint or attraction.

One of the attractions was a reconstructed settlement of an ancient civilization, along with its 3,000-year-old statues that once guarded burial sites. Afterwards, we visited a forest filled with beautiful conifer trees and enjoyed a walk there.

In this way, I got to experience Chinese mass tourism firsthand: spending the entire day moving from one attraction to the next, with crowds everywhere. Apparently, Xinjiang has only recently become such a popular destination, and this is still just the beginning of the tourist season. It is expected to become even more crowded in the coming weeks.