Bifengxia

Bifengxia

Bifengxia is a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction.

The Bifengxia Scenic Area is located within Ya'an City and is a comprehensive tourist destination developed in recent years, integrating natural scenery, wildlife conservation, and leisure vacation. The area mainly consists of two parts: Bifengxia Ecological Zoo and Bifengxia Canyon.

The ecological zoo houses precious protected animals from around the world. Ferocious animals are kept in semi-wild conditions, allowing visitors to observe them via sightseeing vehicles. There is also a massive aviary where visitors can walk inside, and several walking areas where people can interact face-to-face with the animals. The total visiting time is approximately 4 hours.

The Eastern Bifengxia Ecological Canyon Scenic Area is composed of two canyons: the left canyon is 7 kilometers long, and the right canyon is 6 kilometers long, forming a V-shape. It is an enclosed, recyclable touring area, with a width of 30–70 meters, an altitude of 700–1,971 meters, and cliff heights of 100–200 meters. Touring within the canyon allows you to experience its primitive beauty — rugged, perilous, serene, and pristine. Vegetation, waterfalls, canyon views, and sea of clouds are the distinctive features of Bifengxia.

The ecological canyon area boasts lush greenery, verdant peaks, and dramatic cliffs, making it an ideal spot for leisure, vacation, and summer escape. The canyon alternates between towering peaks that pierce the sky and narrow gorges where sunlight barely penetrates. Its diverse waterfall landscapes add endless charm and captivate visitors. Over 60 scenic spots, including Tianlong Lingyun, Ten-Finger Heaven-Mending Peak, Thousand-Layer Rock Waterfall, Nuwa Pool, and Mandarin Duck Waterfall, tell the magical legend of Nuwa mending the heavens. Here, you can breathe the rich, oxygen-laden air nurtured by the secluded mountains and valleys, discover ancient relics of the heaven-mending legend, and explore stories of love and beauty that echo through time. It is like an ethereal, hazy poem or an elegant ink painting, waiting for you to savor and appreciate.

The canyon is adjacent to the ecological zoo and is about 60 meters deep. Along the river within the canyon, there is a circular walking path that winds along the mountainside. The journey blends mountain and water scenery into one, with varying levels of difficulty, ups and downs, and breathtaking views at every turn. The full walking tour takes approximately 4 hours. Visitors can also take an elevator up and down the canyon or descend via mountain trails.

The Bifengxia Scenic Area includes numerous attractions such as Huanglong Gorge, Tianxian Bridge, Natural Potted Landscape, Thousand-Layer Rock Waterfall, Bailongtan Waterfall, Nuwa Pool, Dripping Water Plank Walk, and YaNv Garden. It is like an ethereal, hazy poem or an elegant ink painting, waiting for you to savor and appreciate.

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda’s Bifengxia Base in Ya'an is a branch of the center. Officially completed and opened to the public on December 28, 2003, it covers an area of 1,074 acres and integrates research, breeding, and tourism functions. It is divided into three viewing areas: White Bear Plain, Panda Kindergarten, and the Overseas Returnees Panda Paradise. The base currently houses over 60 giant pandas and serves as China’s national panda park as well as the home of celebrity pandas. From “Tuan Tuan” and “Yuan Yuan,” gifted to Taiwan, to “Tai Shan,” who returned from the U.S., whether it’s the Beijing “Olympic Pandas” or the Shanghai “Expo Pandas,” they have all captured global attention.

On January 7, 2020, it was designated as a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The Thousand-Layer Rock Waterfall is about 100 meters high and 10 meters wide. The water rushes down from the cliff at the mountaintop, falls onto a mid-level terrace covered in dense forest, then flows gently down the mountainside before cascading gracefully down the layered rock surface. Countless silver streams form a massive silver curtain, resembling a fairy maiden’s flowing hair. As the waterfall is divided into three sections by rocks and flanked by emerald vines, it is also known as the “Triple-Layered Reflection of Beauty.” Legend says that when Nuwa was mending the heavens, she used knotted ropes to keep records and carved stones to mark the days. Each day, she carved a sword mark into the rock. In Bifengxia, there are 1,028 sword marks on the Thousand-Layer Rock walls — the original engravings Nuwa made to count the 1,028 days she spent mending the sky and gathering multicolored stones.

Legend has it that when Nuwa was mending the heavens in Western Shu, she exhausted herself and transformed into the beautiful Bifeng Mountain. Her mount, the “Green Dragon,” refused to leave her side and turned into a long stream, guarding her day and night. This place is where the dragon wept and vanished, hence it is called “Green Dragon Pool.” The Green Dragon Pool Waterfall, about 40 meters high and 6 meters wide, cascades from the dense forest of the canyon, flows over layers of strange rocks, and plunges into the valley. Its force resembles a dragon descending a mountain, and the pool below is unfathomably deep, with shimmering green scales of light.

“Emerald peaks veil like a screen, while western streams form waterfalls on their own.” Thus, the Cui Ping Small Waterfall gets its name. Verdant Cui Ping Mountain stretches continuously, densely forested like a green jade screen. Here, the riverbed undulates, and rocks are strewn across, forming countless small waterfalls that harmonize naturally with the canyon, creating a breathtaking scenic masterpiece.

This waterfall flows downward along the terrain, splitting into two streams. The left stream is larger, representing Yang; the right is smaller, representing Yin. In summer, when the water flow is strong, the two merge into one, hence the name Mandarin Duck Waterfall.

Further Reading:

· Batch 35 of National AAAAA-Level Tourist Attractions (January 2020)