China's National Parks
In 2021, China announced its first batch of five national parks. The national parks system was created to improve conservation and consolidate management of protected areas, and also to share China's most beautiful scenery and biodiverse regions with the world. While currently at five national parks as of December 2023, the system is expected to expand rapidly, to up to 49 as laid out in the 2022 National Park Spatial Layout Plan.
The national parks system is a key part of President Xi's "two mountains" philosophy - "绿水青山就是金山银山" which roughly translates to "clear waters and mountains are mountains of gold and silver." In other words, in China's protected areas, conservation and development come hand in hand. Unlike national parks in some places in the world, China's protected areas still have many indigenous residents. In fact, part of the reason these areas still have great biodiversity today is local customs of people living in harmony with nature.
As China opens its national parks system to tourists, it is important that locals benefit first, and that the establishment of the new protected areas benefits rather than hurts them. Only with cooperation between the local government, national parks administration, local community organizations, and private players can the system grow sustainably and equitably.
This is where we come in; the government is piloting a program to limit business operations in national parks via a franchising system, which is used in many other countries today. This means that private companies, such as tour companies, hotels, restaurants, and so on, have to obtain a license to operate.
Good franchising policies ensure that only companies that meet certain standards (e.g. minimized ecological impact, benefitting the local economy) can operate in national parks. Our CEO Wang Lei has worked with local governments and the national parks bureaus in Qinghai, Hainan, and Sichuan to draft their franchising policies, and Yunjoy Nature is one of the first franchisees in the pilot system.
Traveling with us means you are not only exploring China's wildest and most biodiverse places, but also taking part in the creation and testing of a new national parks system. We provide logistics support, guarantee minimal ecological impact, and employ locally. During our travels, our guides will share fun and interesting stories of our time in China's national parks.
Explore below to learn more about each national park, its representative scenery and biodiversity, and visitation routes:
The source of the Yellow, Yangtze, and Lancang Rivers on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, with high altitude grasslands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, mountains, and snow leopard habitat.
Six mountain ranges across Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi Provinces with mountainous, old-growth bamboo forests, a perfect habitat for wild giant pandas.
Hainan's tropical rainforests are located in the mountainous, inland areas on the island and home to the rare Hainan gibbon.
Temperate forests that are the former habitat of the Amur Tiger and Leopard, with conservation efforts to bring them back.
Straddling Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, the Wuyi Mountains have forested sandstone landscapes, a winding Jiuqu River, and tea and rich cultural heritage.