You can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of Gaoxia Pinghu from a helicopter this year

Red leaves on both banks greeting a boat in the river

Folkloric stunt show “Plunging into a Sea of Flames” at Wenfeng Scenic Area

Visitors from all over the country at Goddess Scenic Area

Folkloric stunt show “Climbing a Mountain of Swords” at Wenfeng Scenic Area

Red leaves at their best time at Goddess Scenic Area

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- The 14th China Chongqing Three Gorges (Wushan) International Red Leaves Festival opened on November 20. The best season for the autumn leaves in Wushan is now in full swing, with over a million mu of Wushan’s autumn leaves stretching across the Wuxia Gorge. They are waiting for you to come and see them!

This year’s Red Leaves Festival will last till December 31, the Chongqing Morning News said. Over the past 14 years, Wushan County has always insisted on running the Festival at a high standard, and the Red Leaves Festival has become more and more fascinating. The organizing committee of this year’s Red Leaves Festival has carefully planned more than 20 activities and launched more than 10 red leaves tour routes to provide visitors with the most thoughtful, comfortable and safe services, so that they can enjoy the beautiful scenery and delicious food of Wushan. 

At present, there are nearly 200 varieties of red leaves in Wushan, covering a total area of more than 1.2 million mu and concentrating on more than 150,000 mu of continuous red leaves, with the most concentrated in the Wuxia Gorge, Goddess Scenic Area and Little Three Gorges – Little Little Three Gorges Scenic Area.

For the purpose of further defusing the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry and boosting the high-quality development of the tourism industry, Wushan County has set up eight tourism promotion and marketing working groups in Chongqing, Sichuan, Hubei, Guangdong, Shandong, Xi’an, Haikou and Hangzhou with innovative measures this year, taking “Tourism Promotion and Marketing Year” as a starting point and combining image promotion with channel marketing, so as to develop its tourist source market, enhance its visibility and reputation, comprehensively expand the brand influence of “Love of Goddesses - Red Leaves Wushan”, and also boost the development of tourism to a new level. 

Zhengzhou - Wanzhou High-speed Railway will soon be put into use. With the coming of the high-speed railway era, as the most beautiful tourist card in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the red leaves of Wushan will definitely show their splendid elegance to more domestic and foreign tourists in the future.

New highlights this year for the annual Red Leaves Festival

What makes this year’s Wushan Red Leaves Festival different from previous years? What new experiences can it bring to visitors? Since the second half of this year, Wushan has concentrated on building an upgraded version of its cultural scenic areas, realizing the deep integration of culture and tourism, launching new tourism products, enriching the scenic area industry and improving service functions, and introducing a series of new ways to play and new activities during this year’s Red Leaves Festival to bring new experiences to visitors, according to Wushan Cultural and Tourism Commission and Wushan Tourism Development Group.

1. Helicopter tour: Bird’s-eye view of Three Gorges, a new way to see Wushan

Wushan Tourism Development Group has officially launched a new helicopter tour of the Wuxia Gorge since November 20, allowing visitors to take a helicopter ride to admire the red leaves of Wushan and enjoy the scenery of the Gorges. The helicopter project will feature a number of tours including Jiangdong New Town, Wenfeng Scenic Area, Goddess Peak and Goddess Sky Road.

2. Night Tour of Wushan: Two rivers and four banks, a Wushan night view

On November 20, Wushan Tourism Development Group launched a new product of night cruise on the Wuxia Pinghu Lake. Visitors can not only visit the four banks of the Yangtze River and the Daning River and enjoy the fantastic night view of Wushan, but also have delicious food and participate in interactive folk songs and dances on board.

3. Goddess Scenic Area: Folk songs and dances performed by the local taking you on a tour of Three Gorges

On November 20, a large-scale original ecological Wushan folk song and dance drama “Romance of Wushan Red Leaves” was officially premiered at the Wushan Goddess Scenic Area by Wushan Tourism Development Group. Subsequently, the play will have a permanent residency in the area and be free to visitors.

In this cultural drama, folk cultural arts were unearthed and arranged, and a number of national, municipal and county-level intangible cultural protection programs were brought onto the stage. It also created a bamboo branch dance based on Liu Yuxi’s Zhuzhi Poem (ancient folk songs with love as their main theme).

4. Wenfeng Scenic Area: Folkloric stunt shows “Climbing a Mountain of Swords and Plunging into a Sea of Flames”

As the saying goes, “there are many folk masters”. Wushan Tourism Development Group has organized folk artists to perform at the Wenfeng Scenic Area, introducing “Climbing a Mountain of Swords” and “Plunging into a Sea of Flames”. At the same time, the intangible cultural protection program of Wu Culture is being excavated and sorted out, and for the first time a cultural performance by witches and witch women is being brought onto the art stage to present a cultural feast to visitors.

5. Three Gorges Courtyard: Enjoying the food of Wushan with B&B and grilled fish

Relax in the Three Gorges Courtyard and enjoy the delicacies of Wushan. For the first time, Wushan Tourism Development Group has brought Wushan specialties and famous snacks into the scenic area, and organized a Wushan Food Gathering at Three Gorges Courtyard, where visitors can enjoy local delicacies such as Wushan grilled fish, Wushan mutton, Wushan cured meat and Wushan local chicken. Mountain song duets and bonfire parties were also held, allowing visitors to experience the folk culture of Wushan. (Translated by Wang Huixin, Fathom Language Limited)