A National Park is a natural area specifically protected, managed and utilized. It is dedicated to ecological tourism, scientific research and environmental education to conserve integrity of one or more typical ecological systems.
The earliest "national park" in the world is "Yellowstone National Park," established in the United States in 1872. The unveiling ceremony of the Shangri-La Potatso National Park in 2007 declared official establishment of the national park concept on the Chinese mainland. With long, historic culture and natural scenery, there are certainly other national parks in Yunnan.
7. Xishuangbanna National Park
Xishuangbanna Tropic Rainforest National Park is situated in the territory of Jinghong, Mengla and Menghai County of Xishuangbanna Prefecture, the south of Yunnan Province. The tropic monsoon rainforest, south subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, rare wild animal and plant populations and the whole forest ecology are an invaluable asset.
The park is also interlaced with various types of forests, making it one of the genetic pools of China's tropical plants and a treasure of China's tropical treasures.
Ticket Price: Ticket package 198 yuan/person
8. Zhaotong Dashanbao National Park
Dashanbao National Park is situated in Dashanbao Town, west of Zhaoyang District, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, which is known for black-necked crane, wetland, meadow, canyon, cloud sea, sunrise, sunset, Buddha’s light and other ecological natural sceneries.
In 2003, the national park was approved as “Black-necked Crane National Level Natural Reserve.” In 2004, it was included into the list of “International Important Wetland.” In December 2011, it was elected as “the Most Beautiful Wetland in China” It is a happy home for black-necked crane, the world’s endangered and rare species (about 1,300, approximately one fourth of the black-necked crane species in the world).
Ticket Price: 78 yuan/person
9. Baoshan Gaoligong Mountain National Park
Gaoligong Mountain is originated from Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains in Tibet. Gaoligong National Park is the largest forest and wild animal type natural reserve in Yunnan Province and is rated as “the world’s species gene library,” “natural museum” and “paradise of pheasant magpie class in the world.”
In 1992, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) listed Gaoligong Mountain Natural Reserve as a Class A natural reserve with international importance. In 2000, approved by UNESCO, Baoshan Gaoligong Mountain National Park joined in the world network of people and biosphere.
Ticket Price: Free of charge
10. Diqing Baima Snow Mountain National Park
Baima Snow Mountain is situated in the core region of the“Three River Parallel” world natural heritage. It is a natural reserve of the largest area and the highest elevation in Yunnan Province. An original high mountain needle forest area, in which biodiversity of regions in low latitude and high elevation are in good keep. It is also a core habitat of Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, a particular species in China and endangered species of the world.
It is one of 25 biodiversity protection hot spots. Vegetation in the scenic area is clearly vertically distributed. The horizontal distance is less than 40 kilometers, with a 7 to 16 plant distribution band spectrum. Known as the "kingdom of alpine animals and plants in the cold temperate zone", the area is well preserved with the national key protected plants, such as Star leaf clover and Lancang yellow cedar, and key protected animals, such as yunnan golden monkey, clouded leopard and red panda.
Ticket Price: Free of charge, but visitors who want to enter the mountain are required to go through the approval formalities at the reserve authority before entering.
11. Chuxiong Ailaoshan National Park
Ailaoshan National Park is situated in the joint part of three geographic regions, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Hengduan Mountains and the southern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.It is a nature reserve of forest ecosystem type, aiming to protect subtropical zhongshan wet evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem and black gibbon, green peacock, gray langur and other precious wild animals.
There are 1,500 varieties of higher plants of which there are 14 varieties of national protected plants such as tetracentron sinense and wild litchi and 435 types of primer animals, of which there are more than 20 species such as black gibbon, stump-tailed monkey and green peacock. With significant scientific value, approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ailaoshan National Park was listed as an orientation observation station for forest ecological systems by “Human and Biosphere” of the United Nations.
Ticket Price: Free of charge
12. Nujiang River Grand Canyon National Park
Nujiang River Grand Canyon National Park has the most internationally representative evergreen broad-leaf forest. It is also the largest and the most primitive area of Taiwania flousiana forest in the world. These high and primitive Taiwania flousiana make for a magnificent landscape of the primitive forest, which has extremely high science protection.
Nujiang Grand Canyon is from Tibet Luolong Jiayu Bridge nearby to Yuejin Bridge on the Lushui River. It is the longest canyon in the world, with an overall length of approximately 600 kilometres, extending up to 700 kilometres, about twice the size of the Colorado Canyon in the United States (350 kilometres) and over 200 kilometres longer than Yarlung Zangbu Grand Canyon.
Ticket Price: Free of charge
13. Nujiang River Dulong River National Park
Dulong River National Park, the northward extending part of Shan State – Malaya plot, is situated in the transition zone of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Hengduan Mountains, of which the geological structure is complicated and the geological phenomenon is typical.
Going through intricate earth crust evolution, tectonic movement, magmatic action, metamorphism and mineralisation, the strong neotectonic movement not only created the high uplift of the Himalayan system, but also produced strong uplift and depression in the Dulong River area, and formed the deep cut longitudinal canyon parallel to the range-valley area along the Dulong River and the "Three Rivers" gorge belt with strong external flow force.
Ticket Price: Free of charge