I. Location of Project

Qionghai Wetland, Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan

II. Overall Positioning

Staring from the restoration of natural wetland of the freshwater lakes on the Qionghai Plateau, we sought to build an ecological wetland with international influence that up to the standards of internationally important wetlands, characterized by the reconstruction of bird habitat in southern China and catered for various functions such as ecological education, eco-tourism, biodiversity conservation, and water environmental protection.

III. Strategies of Planning

Give priority to ecology and control by zoning: according to the ecological functions of wetlands and the status of land use, we divided the wetland around Qionghai Lakethe following functional zones and determined protection and utilization requirements accordingly: peregrine bird reserves, fish breeding reserves, near-natural restoration wetland, soil and water conservation and ecological restoration areas around estuary, water purification areas, ecological shelter forest belts, ecological utilization wetland, ecological shoreline restoration areas, and management and protection area for promotion and education.

Natural restoration assisted by engineering projects: we stepped up work on vegetation restoration and soil and water conservation in the Guanba River and Xiaoqing River basins, and simulated the natural condition of estuary deltas to restore the estuary wetland. We created a man-made wetland, forcing the tributaries to pass through multiple levels of purification such as settlement basin, primary and secondary surface flow wetlands, and stabilization pond before entering Qionghai Lake, so to ensure the water quality of Qionghai. In addition, trunk pipes for sewage retention were set up around Qionghai Lake to collect production and domestic sewage and treat it in a unified manner.

Tourism service and sound facilities: we stepped up the transportation service of tourism around the Qionghai Lake by developing both water and land transportation, such as setting up round-the-lake bus lines, green ways and water touring routes to provide visitors with multiple touring experiences of walking, cycling, battery cars, and cruise ships. We also established popular science & education venues around the wetland such as wetland education centers, indigenous fish exhibition hall, wetland flower exhibition hall, etc., to raise people’s awareness of wetland restoration and biodiversity conservation.

Integration of culture and tourism, poetic and artistic ambience: by digging deepthe coastal landscape and cultural characteristics, we came up with such thematic designs as “Bird-Watching Island”, “Dream Water-Town”, “Sea of Flowers of Four Seasons”, “Idyllic Garden in Dreams”, etc., so that visitors can have distinctive, unique experience when touring each section of Qionghai Wetland of different varieties of plants and landscapes. Apart from this, we used elements of regional cultures such as ancient Qiongdu culture, local religion and folk culture, etc., in cultural facilities including Moon-Admiring at Gui Bridge and Haichao Fishing Village to elevate the cultural significance and taste of the wetland.