Bustling crowd (Photographed by Li Hua)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Under a 10-meter-long red awning, tourists checked in for reservations with the help of staff. According to Chongqing Morning Post, Ciqikou Ancient Town has been suspended from receiving tourists for 8 days due to the No. 2 Flood of Jialing River in 2020. On August 27, Ciqikou Ancient Town Management Committee announced that Ciqikou Ancient Town would resume tourist reception from 09:00. Statistics from the Committee show that more than 4,500 tourists have visited the Town by 14:00 on that day.

On that day, the temperature of Chongqing reached 38°C. At 08:00 in the morning, Ciqikou Ancient Town Management Committee issued a notice to resume receiving tourists through WeChat Official Account, and put up a 10-meter-long red awning at the gate of the Town early in the morning, to provide a cool environment for tourists to queue up and enter.

“I came to Ciqikou Ancient Town with my family today,” said Ms. Li, who lives in Shapingba. She saw the announcement early in the morning and immediately decided to take her family to visit the Town.

“I have seen from the news that the businesses of Ciqikou Ancient Town have been badly hit by the disaster, and I have been thinking that we must support them when the Town is reopened. Therefore, this trip has been in our plan for a long time.”

Li Fang came very early. There were not many visitors in the Town and many businesses had just opened. But even so, the clean and tidy Ciqikou Ancient Town made her family very happy. “Our family are very happy to see how quickly the Town has returned to its former appearance.”

Zhang Fengyu, from Chengdu, was pretty happy for his good luck, and he said: “I thought I could not wait until that Ciqikou Ancient Town was open again when I visited Chongqing this time. However, I came to have a look and have a try today. Unexpectedly, the Town has actually recovered. Now I can take more photos to show my friends the beautiful Ciqikou Ancient Town.”

“At present, most of the Town has been restored to its former appearance, while only a small part of areas of the Town is still under cleaning and security investigation. For these areas, we have not only put up red cordon, but also sent special staff on 24-hour watch.” The relevant person in charge urged tourists not to force their way into these areas that have not been reopened for visiting the river.

After its reopening, Ciqikou Ancient Town will continue implementing the online reservation system. Visitors only need to follow the WeChat Official Account “重庆磁器口” (Chongqing Ciqikou) to enter the “磁预约” (Ciqikou Reservation) to make an appointment. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)