Chongqing - The onset of winter signals the long-awaited 17th Three Gorges Yangtze River International Red Leaf Festival in Chongqing's Wushan County is set to open. New boutique travel routes and themed activities are planned for citizens, who can admire the scenic beauty of red leaves amid village songs and delicious local cuisine. In advance of the upcoming festival, the delights tourists can expect were presented during a press conference hosted in Chongqing on November 8, 2023. 

In autumn and winter each year, more than 200 varieties of red leaves covering around 800 square kilometers radiate their splendor upon the mountains and riversides of Wushan County and have long become a seasonal business card in the local tourism industry and on the Three Gorges travel route.

The opening ceremony, set to take place on November 18 in Wushan Hongye Square, will unveil fresh elements for this year's Red Leaf Festival. The dual themes of harvest celebrations and mountain scenery emphasize the fusion of cultural and rural tourism through a variety of song and dance performances. 

In addition, the event will host the finals of the national Chinese Village Song Contest, where citizens can enjoy award-winning performances brimming with rural nostalgia and local culture amid the nocturnal beauty of Wushan. During this live competition broadcast online, teams from 15 provinces will vie for first, second, and third-place awards.

Cultural feast accompanies the Red Leaf Festival

Further highlights organized for the two-month-long festival in Wushan include the Yangtze River Three Gorges International Cross-Country Race and Roast Fish Banquet Consumption Season. Meanwhile, themed educational camps and seminars, as well as an invitational hiking competition, will cater to a wide range of societal interests.

The Roast Fish Banquet will take place between November 19 and 21, during which time citizens can taste this signature Wushan dish free of charge by showing a local scenic area entrance ticket. Moreover, during the two-month festival, the WeChat portal " Changyou Wushan " will offer discount vouchers worth a total of 600,000 yuan. 

Tourists in Wushan will once again be able to feast their eyes on dazzling scenes of red leaves through many famous tourist experiences, including cruise boats on the Lesser Three Gorges, walking tours of Goddess Peak, and the renowned "Sky Road" in Xiazhuang Village, carved out of the mountainside by local people in a remarkable feat of determination.

Netizens unable to travel in person can still admire the red leaves of Wushan from the comfort of their homes. Multiple travel routes are available through dynamic and immersive VR experiences uploaded onto the WeChat mini-application "Changyou Wushan."

The County of Wushan is located inside the Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt, and the annual Red Leaf Festival presents an important window to display the achievements of ecological civilization and the promotion of Chongqing as a world-class international tourist destination.