By Mikkel Larsen, iChongqing News

Chongqing – On June 26th, Xiushan's first Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off with a bang. The opening ceremony of the new Cloud Ladder Cableway and the Cultural Tourism Festival were held at the Xiushan River Cover Scenic Area and high-ranking officials Wang Jie from the County Party Committee, Qin Dingbo from the Chongqing Municipal Committee of Culture and Tourism Development, and Yang Guishan from the Chongqing Municipal Sports Bureau.

The scenic area of Chuanhegai offers thousands of cliffs, deep valleys, larges areas of grasslands, lookout posts, terraces, all waiting for tourists to come and enjoy. The supporting facilities in the nearby regions are being accelerated to make the scenic area ready for tourists as soon as possible.

The Opening Ceremony for the Xiushan Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival held on June 26th in Xiushan, Chongqing

Traditional Miao style performance at the opening ceremony for the Cloud Ladder Cableway in the Xiushan River Cover Scenic Area

In the early morning of the 26th, the opening ceremony of the Cloud Ladder cableway was held, and Wang Jie announced the official opening of the cableway. Tourists were able to try the new cableway that starts in Shuiyuan village and goes up the mountain to Nanmu village. Driving by car, the same distance would take half an hour, but the cableway makes the same trip in just 5 minutes, traversing the 1533 meter stretch at 6 meters per second. The cableway cars can accommodate as many as eight people at a time. As you slowly move out from the bottom platform, the cableway accelerates as it heads up the mountain, giving visitors a perfect panoramic view of the surroundings.

On parts of the climb, the cableway ascends at 42.5 degrees at its steepest point. On the trip going down, you can feel almost as if you are flying. Tickets for the cableway are 70 yuan for a round trip, 40 yuan for a single way trip.

The Cableway at the Xiushan River Cover Scenic Area

Following the ascent up the mountain, visitors could then enjoy the opening ceremony of the first Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival. Various performers participated in the opening ceremony with dancing, singing, and even a magic show.

Performances at the Opening Ceremony for the Xiushan Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival held on June 26th in Xiushan, Chongqing

Performances at the Opening Ceremony for the Xiushan Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival held on June 26th in Xiushan, Chongqing

The Opening Ceremony for the Xiushan Jinshan Yinshan Cultural Tourism Festival held on June 26th in Xiushan, Chongqing

However, the Chuanhegai Scenic Area has plenty of things to do. It is a great place to spend the summer, as there is a cool breeze blowing across the mountain. Lush green landscapes surround the whole scenic area. Chuanhegai is located about 40 kilometers Northeast of Xiushan county, and it covers an area of 67 square kilometers at an average elevation of 1200 meters. There are large scale alpine ecological areas to explore at every turn.

Surrounding the hotel area at the top of the mountain is a sea of flowers stretching across a vast area, allowing you to enter a dreamworld almost like the ones we see in movies, rolling hills covered in flowers.

From the top of the mountain, you can also see the Comb Hills.

Comb Mountain, part of the scenery at the Xiushan Chuanhegai Scenic Area

A stretch of 18 parallel ridges, evenly spaced, giving the appearance of a comb from a distance. Another famous location is the Jinyu Qiufeng scenic spot. From here you can see a single rock formation towering in the distance, and the road leading up to the mountain, a thrilling stretch of road where every turn is 180 degrees.

Finally, there is a tourist reception center, the Chuanhegai Star Hotel, camping areas, an outdoor sports base, marketplaces and preparations for sports activities to be held here as well. Very soon, Chuanhegai will have everything you could imagine from a modern tourist destination.

The star hotel at the Chuanhegai Scenic Area in Xiushan

In the afternoon, one of the highlights of the day was a Go tournament game between Gu Li and Chang Hao, a highly anticipated game that drew considerable attention and was live-streamed from the Xiushan Chuanhegai Star Hotel.