Overview of Zhangjiajie's Fascinating Tour Guide Scripts
Dear guests:
You must have had a tiring journey!
At this moment, you have arrived at the destination of this trip: Zhangjiajie. My name is ***, and I am a professional tour guide from *** Travel Agency. My license number is ******, and the city's tourism complaint telephone number is: 8380193. It is a great honor to be your guide today. I will serve you wholeheartedly and together we will enjoy a wonderful journey through Zhangjiajie.
Zhangjiajie City is located in the heartland of the Wuling Mountain Range in northwestern Hunan, covering an area of 9,563 square kilometers with a total population of 1,552,000. Zhangjiajie is a multi-ethnic region, with 19 ethnic minorities—led by the Tujia people—numbering 1,118,400, accounting for 72.06% of the city's total population. Among them, the Tujia number 980,000, the Bai 108,000, and the Miao 26,900 (according to statistics at the end of 1998).
Zhangjiajie has a mid-subtropical mountainous monsoon humid climate, with an average temperature of 16.8 degrees Celsius, an average annual rainfall of 1,400 millimeters, and a frost-free period of 258 days. The average temperature in the hottest month is 28 degrees Celsius, and in the coldest month 5.1 degrees Celsius. It can be said that there is no severe cold in winter and no extreme heat in summer, with pleasant temperatures throughout the four seasons, making it one of the most suitable places for human habitation.
Please look back: that is the world-famous Tianmen Mountain. I believe everyone still vividly remembers the magnificent scene of aircraft flying through Tianmen Cave during the World Stunt Flying Grand Prix held in December 1999.
The river we see now is called the Lishui River. It originates from Badagong Mountain in Sangzhi County, the hometown of Marshal He Long. It runs through cliffs and gorges for hundreds of kilometers before flowing into the 800-li Dongting Lake. It is the least polluted and most beautiful "ecological river" among the four major rivers in Hunan. China's first unpowered rubber raft drifting tour is on the Maoyan River, the most spectacular section of the upper Lishui.
The initial formation of Zhangjiajie's modern geomorphological framework took place approximately 100 million years ago during the Yanshan-Himalayan period of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Located between the uplifted Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the subsiding Dongting Lake area, nature's miraculous craftsmanship has created for us spectacular gorges, rushing rivers, towering solitary rock peaks, deep karst caves, and elusive underground rivers. Our destination for this trip—the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area—is a classic masterpiece of nature's mountain-building movements.
Now, let me briefly introduce the history of Zhangjiajie City's development.
The urban area of Zhangjiajie was not previously called Zhangjiajie, but Dayong, which was the location of the ancient Yong State. Historical records state: "Yong, a state name. In the sixteenth year of Duke Wen of Lu (611 BC), Chu destroyed Yong." Hence the saying, "Dayong is the ancient Yong State."
As early as the late primitive society, ancestors had already begun to live and multiply along the banks of the Lishui River. By the time of Yao and Shun, "Shun exiled Huandou to Chong Mountain to transform the southern barbarians," and thus the term "southern barbarians" entered Chinese history. That great mountain standing side by side with Tianmen Mountain is Chong Mountain. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang divided the empire into thirty-six commanderies, and Dayong was assigned to the Qianzhong Commandery, whose seat was in present-day Yuanling County. Later, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han, reassigned Dayong to the Wuling Commandery (present-day Changde City) and renamed it Chong County. In the sixth year of Yong'an of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period (263 AD), Songliang Mountain—present-day Tianmen Mountain—experienced a massive landslide that split off half the mountain and created a world wonder: a huge hole through the mountain. King Sun Xiu of Wu considered this an auspicious sign and issued a decree renaming Songliang Mountain as Tianmen Mountain, and specially carved out a portion of Wuling Commandery to establish Tianmen Commandery, administering four counties, to elevate the political status of Tianmen Mountain. Over the long course of more than 1,720 years thereafter, Dayong experienced repeated rises and declines, going through more than thirty administrative reorganizations. In the early 1980s, a rare and unique sandstone peak forest natural wonder was discovered in the mountains of northern Dayong County, causing a sensation worldwide.
Thus a series of major government actions followed:
In September 1982, China's first national forest park was established, filling the gap of China having no national park;
In February 1985, Hu Yaobang, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, inscribed a title for Wulingyuan;
In May 1985, the State Council approved the abolition of Dayong County and the establishment of Dayong City (county-level);
In May 1988, the State Council approved the upgrading of Dayong City to a prefecture-level city, administering Yongding District, Wulingyuan District, Cili County, and Sangzhi County;
In August 1988, Wulingyuan was listed among the second batch of 40 key scenic and historic interest areas in China;
On December 24, 1992, Wulingyuan was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List;
In April 1994, the State Council approved the renaming of Dayong City to Zhangjiajie City;
In March 1995, President *** visited in person and set the direction for Zhangjiajie's future development: "Build Zhangjiajie into a world-renowned tourist destination."
At this point, Zhangjiajie finally completed its long journey across time and space, emerging from the "boudoir" of western Hunan, out of Hunan, toward the whole country, and toward the world.
In order to realize the goals set forth by General Secretary Jiang as early as possible, Zhangjiajie City formulated a "tourism-driven" development strategy, which was affirmed by the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, and it was made clear that Zhangjiajie should make tourism the leading industry in the city's economic development and a pillar industry for enriching the people and strengthening the city.
Counting from the establishment of the national forest park in 1982, after nearly twenty years of development, Zhangjiajie's position as a leading industry has been further clarified. Since the establishment of the city, it has received a cumulative total of 16.8 million domestic and international visitors, including 400,000 overseas tourists, generating tourism revenue of 3 billion yuan. In 1999, the city received 3.27 million domestic and international visitors, with total tourism revenue of 950 million yuan, ranking second in the province in both categories. The proportion of tourism revenue to GDP rose from 2.34% in 1989 to 16.9% in 1999. Tourism has become the leading industry driving the city's economic and social development, playing an increasingly important role in the province's and even the nation's tourism landscape. The structure of the three industries was adjusted from 47:18:35 in 1989 to 27.0:26.4:46.6 in 1999, with the dominant position of the tertiary industry becoming more prominent and the economic structure becoming more rational. A large tourism environment framework has been initially established, featuring an airport, customs, a railway station, high-grade highways, modern telecommunications, star-rated hotels, colleges and technical schools, advanced medical and health facilities, ethnic and folk culture exhibition bases, and continuously expanding and increasingly complete functions. At present, Zhangjiajie Railway Station has opened passenger train services with more than 10 large and medium-sized cities across the country. Zhangjiajie Airport has opened flights to more than 20 large and medium-sized cities nationwide, and chartered flight routes from the air port to Hong Kong, Macau, and Bangkok have already been opened. The city has more than 400 hotels and restaurants (including over 20 star-rated hotels), with a total of 40,000 beds. The city currently has 52 travel agencies, including 5 international agencies and 47 domestic agencies. There are 18,000 tourism practitioners, and a comprehensive service system integrating "food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, entertainment, and shopping" has taken initial shape. At the same time, we have successfully received a large number of Party and state leaders, foreign heads of state, and international friends; we have successfully held several International Forest Protection Festivals and World Stunt Flying Competitions, thereby earning prestige for Zhangjiajie and expanding its fame. Zhangjiajie's tourism industry is moving toward maturity.
Some say that Zhangjiajie is rich in scenery. In addition to the already developed and opened core scenic areas—Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve, and Suoxiyu Nature Reserve—there are also surrounding open scenic areas such as Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park, Maoyan River Rafting Scenic Area, the national-level Badagong Mountain Nature Reserve, Jiutian Cave (a world karst cave exploration base), as well as the Taoist mountain Wulei Mountain, the Memorial Hall of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Base Area, and Hongjiaguan, the former residence of Marshal He Long. The city's tourist scenic areas cover more than 500 square kilometers, making it arguably the richest city in tourism resources in Hunan. A great poet once wrote: "Where can such a fairyland be found? I urge you to make your journey to Wuling soon."
Dear guests, we sincerely welcome you. Zhangjiajie belongs to China and also to all humanity. Let us all cherish her, protect her, and enjoy her, and witness her outstanding beauty!