Seeing that every year some 500,000 tourists go past their homes to visit Dunhuang Grottoes, local people in the Turpan Basin have decided to make their own fortune by building the country's first desert park.
The government of Shanshan County, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, plans to build a park on the vast deserts, according to Su Yu, a local cultural official.
The county will invest 33.7 million yuan in the 54 sq-m park. A number of tourism facilities will be built for visitors to enjoy sightseeing, sand-bathing, sand-surfing, and bird's-eye view of the desert.
In addition to tourism, the park is also expected to be helpful for environmental protection in Shanshan, frequently hit by sandstorms, the official said.
Shanshan lies on the Silk Road tourism route that links Dunhuang, in Gansu Province, with Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang.
(People's Daily)
