China is progressing a mega cultural project：the National Culture Park Scheme, which features the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, The Long March and the Yellow River, all epitomes of the grand Chinese civilization
In May 2017, the Chinese government issued its Outline on Cultural Reform and Development in the Thirteenth Five-year Period, in which it proposed, for the first time, setting up a range of national culture parks as its historical and cultural icons. In December 2019, Programme on Building up the Great Wall, Grand Canal and Long March National Culture Parks came into being. In March 2021, the Fourteenth Five-year Plan for China’s National Economic and Social Development and Outline towards 2035 specified that four national culture parks as above mentioned will see their completion during the 14th five-year period.
China’s national culture parks are for the cultural welfare of the public, symbolizing China’s national spirits and values, as well as its cultural essences. By their completion in 2025, they would provide more open and accessible resources to culture seekers, history buffs and ecology fans.
Highlights along the Yellow River
The Yellow River National Culture Park
The 5464km Yellow River originates from the World’s Rooftop—Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Known as the Motherriver of the Chinese nation, she runs west to east throughout the vast land of the Northern China, passing Qinghai, Sichuan,Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong with twists and turns in the shape of the Chinese character几(pinyin: ji). The Yellow River culture is the most distinctive and influential pivotal culture in China.
8 Travel Routes along the Yellow River
The Great Wall
The Great Wall National Culture Park
Winding as long as 2,119,6180m, the Great Wall extends across China’s north and stands as a symbol of the Chinese nation. Listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, the walls have spanned through the Warring States Period, the Qin, the Han, the North Wei, the North Qi, the Sui, the Tang, the Five Dynasties, the Song, the Xi Xia, and the Liao times. Today’s Great Wall runs across 15 provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
The Great Wall Scenery
The Grand Canal
The Grand Canal National Culture Park
More than 2,500 years have passed since the first digging of the Grand Canal. Once the earliest, longest and biggest ancient canal in the world, today’s Grand Canal still plays an important role in China’s transportation system. In June 2014, it became a UNESCO listed world heritage site. The Grand Canal National Culture Park covers the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, and the Eastern Zhejiang Canal, those three sections encompassing 10 canals, namely the Tonghui River, the Beiyun River, the Nanyun River, the Huitong River, the Middle River, the Huaiyang Canal, the Jiangnan Canal, the Zhedong Canal, the Wei River, and the Bian River. Eight provinces and municipalities are involved: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong and Henan.
The Grand Canal Scenery
The Yangtze River
The Yangtze National Culture Park
The Yangtze National Culture Park has stringed the numerous cultural gems along the Yangtze River through thousands of years. Being named the Mother River of the Chinese nation, the Yangtze River has been tightly intertwined with the whole progress of this oriental civilization. This initiative started at the beginning of 2022 and would include 13 provinces and municipalities along the River, i.e. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, An’hui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunan,Tibet and Qinghai.
Thanks to the abundant resources and rich functions of the Yangtze River, regional economy has been prospering and culture flourishing, thus astonishing cultural legacies and heritages created and well-kept. Let’s follow its main stream and far-stretching tributaries and find ourselves blown away by the beauty and marvel of Yangtze’s nature and culture.
Here we offer a selection of video clips for the 13 areas along the River, with tourism and culture highlights listed. The classic cruise trip through Three-Gorges along the Yangtze River is a must-try, if you fancy a poetic journey twisted in between deep gorges and through jaw-dropping sceneries plus strongly ethnical explorations into the multi-stops during the journey.
The Yangtze Scenery
Cruise through Three-Gorges
Yangtze River is the third longest after the Nile and the Amazon in the world. A 5,686 kilometres long, it rises on Mount Geladaindong in the Tibetan Plateau and disgorges into the Yellow Sea at Shanghai. This vital waterway traverses the heart of China, but it’s the upper reaches that are the popular cruising playgrounds for the variety of sumptuous vessels that have opened up this mysterious river to a worldwide audience of inquisitive travellers.
Recommended cruise route is from Hubei to Chongqing. Charmingly sheer and respectively distinctive are Qutang Gorge, Wuxia Gorge and Xiling Gorge, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. Taking a downstream cruise on the river, you would be as though strolling in a “Landscape Gallery”, awed at waterfalls, green mountain ranges, cliffs, valleys and gorges, with birds chirping and monkey jumping.
Hubei was once the battlefield over 1,800 years ago during the Three Kingdoms of Wei (220-265), Shu (221-263) and Wu (220-280), which left more than 50 historical remains. Standing on the historical sites of the ancient Chi Bi battlefield, the ancient Jingzhou City, the Yellow Crane lower, the ancient Guanling Tomb, the ancient capital of Wu State and ancient Longzhong, one cannot help recalling the bygone days and indulging in a welling of myriads of sentiments. Another highlight is the Three Gorges Dam. At Jieliuyuan park you can watch the spectacular scene of the tamed Yangtze River.
Then you’ll stop at Chongqing, the ‘City of Hotpots’ and the ‘City of Mountains’ . Be sure to try hotpots and travel across the Yangtze River in suspended cables. Also climb thousands of stairs and enjoy the nightviews in this sleepless city.
There’re many cultural fun to explore in the Yangtze River：the Dazu Rock Carvings, the Baidi Ancient City and the QuYuan Memorial Hall… Those 13 provinces and cities cradle countless cultural legacies and heritages, and dive into the Yangtze River Culture Park, you’ll indulge in a world of mesmerizing travel experiences.
