Wedged between Hunan Province, Chongqing Municipal and Hubei Province, the Grand Canyon Scenic Spot in Enshi, China, is the most lovely stretch of Qingjiang River Basin, and crowned as the most beautiful canyon throughout the world. It features ten thousand meters cliff gallery, a thousand plunging waterfall, a hundred soaring peaks and ten miles lengthy ravine. There may be no clear winner between the impressive and graceful global geological wonders in the canyon and that in Colorado Grand Canyon of USA.
Qixing Village and Yunlong Ground Fissure, two core areas within the canyon, covers 35.2squre kilometers, has been open to the public and is called as natural museum of limestone karsts for its enough diversity, including tiankeng, ground fissure, precipice, fengcong, limestone pillars, caves, underground river etc., of which are world-class tourism resources.
Qixing Village Scenic Spot consists of Small Pass, Medium Pass and Large Pass, which is highlight of Qingjiang Grand Fissure. Along 8.5-km-long boardwalk, you may see some renowned attractions, such as Peaks of Small Mountain Pass, Longmen Stone Forest, Yixiantian (thin strip of sky), Precipice Corridor, Cloud Torch, Greeting Pine, Yizhuxiang (a stick of incense), Twin Towers, Yubi Peak, Yunv Peak and Yuping Peak etc..
The U-shape Yulong Fissure is vertical from edges to bottom, 3600 meters long and 75 meters deep averagely, and extraordinary and unique karst landscape.
The Yulong Fissure includes lot of single-structures of toursim resource. At outside, it is embraced by precipices and large gorge , peaks are rising one higher than another, and landscape is varied. While within fissure, water runs and waterfalls spills off vertical drops. Colorful Yellow Dragon Waterfall, Rainbow Waterfall, Yulong Waterfall, Ice Waterfall, Mufu Waterfall are all good destination.
Mysterious and steep Enshi Grand Canyon was not discovered by joint Sino-French expedition until 2004, but attracted countless 'oohs' and 'aahs' once being shown to the public. In April of 2012, U.S. explorer Dean Potter set a world record of walking 41-meter-long band let without aid of instruments in Yizhuxiang, which makes five wonders of Enshi Grand Canyon shake the world.
White clouds rising from the Qingjiang River. In the Grand Canyon clouds rise from the Qingjiang River like a jumbo soaring dragon, zigzagging, stretching for miles, plump and smooth skinned. What a feast for eyes!
Precipice surrounded by peak clusters. There are both precipices and peak clusters in the Grand Canyon, you may see precipice embedding into peak clusters, or soaring over it, which is never found in rest areas of the world.
Caves connected by natural bridges. There are over 200 caves in various size along the Grand Canyon, which are connected by natural bridges. Here, water and sky are blended well, you may doubt that you are just in a fantasyland.
Underground river receives waterfalls. The Yunlong River Fissure is covered with rock formations and ancient green trees, and there flies sever waterfalls and streams along both sides of the river, which is impressive and breathtaking.
Tiankeng accompanied by fissure. The underground river of Grand Canyon has a total length of 50km, which is the world's longest. There are 108 cenotes on the underground river, it's very spectacular.
Plenty of limestone pillars and pillar forest in Enshi Grand Canyon, are special geomorphologic system with typicality and uniqueness, and nowadays becoming a new field of study on karst landform within the world. Research on its distribution regularities and formation mechanism has important scientific significance.
Enshi Grand Canyon and its surrounding area is the home of Tujia Girls' Festival. Girls' Festival is one of the typical regional tradition festivals in China, and spontaneously formed by Enshi Tujia people, going to market is only a pretext, while they are indeed seeking a partner by their own willing for the purpose of love, and in the form of singing in antiphonal style. It is known as Eastern valentine's day.
Western Rancap, also stems from Tujia culture, is consummation of Tujia people's intelligence and technique, and called as Flower of Tujia. With contrast colors, plain and overblown patterns, Western Rancap mixes realism and abstract with ambience of life. As per custom of Tujia, girls shall make beautiful Western Rancap on loom for wedding, i.e. Tujia Colorful Bedrolls.
Enshi is township of art, as well as singing and dancing. Dragon boat song, hand-swinging folk dance, nuo opera, lantern drama, Tujia daliuz etc represent romantic and free charm of Tujia and Miao Minority. Dragon boat song, originated from Enshi prefecture, is a love song that expresses characteristics, custom and pursue of Tujia people, has been recognized by UNESCO as one of 25 excellent folk songs around the world. Song Zuying, a Miao songster, also sang the song in The Golden Hall of Vienna and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts successively, which helped spark craze to the song across the world. Enshi Grand Canyon Theatre is launching a large-scale real-scene performance, with mountains and rivers in the background. The theatre with same age as the earth, and the stage with light of the sun or the moon will represent plain and simple romantic love of Tujia.
Special geography environment of Enshi Grand Canyon contributes to blended cuisine that has both spicy hot taste of Sichuan and salty hot of Hunan, in addition local flavor snack with Tujia and Miao Minority features attract a lot of visitors. "Gege" steamed with mixture of fried Chinese pepper and other main ingredient, mini hot-pot "Hezha", roasted preserved meat, fried Guang peper with sour and hot taste, Tujia sesame cake are all worth to taste.
