An area in northwest China's Yunnan Province, where three rivers run side by side for more than 170 kilometers, is to be turned into the country's largest scenic park.

A plan to develop the zone has been approved by the Ministry of Construction, sources with the provincial government said.

The Jinsha, Lancang and Nujiang rivers, running through the area, all originate from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The shortest distance between the Lancang and Jinsha rivers is 66 kilometers, and the shortest stretch between the Lancang and Nujiang rivers is less than 19 km, making the area the only place in the world where rivers run alongside each other but never meet.

The area to be developed covers 35,000 square km and features spectacular landscapes such as snow-capped mountains, deep gorges, glaciers and plateau lakes. The location is also home to more than 5,000 species of plants and over 800 species of animals, including the Yunnan golden monkey and wild ox.

The zone was named a state-level scenic zone in 1988 and is applying for the World Natural Heritage list.

Inhabited by 16 minority ethnic groups, this area has become a unique community with colorful languages, cultures, lifestyles and religious beliefs, which have attracted the attention of researchers of human studies from home and abroad.

Sources said the main reason for building the area into a big park is to protect the local ecological environment. Previously, China's forestry departments banned tree-cutting and have mapped out a dozen state and provincial-level nature reserves in the zone.

Meanwhile, China's forestry departments have cooperated with their American and British counterparts in building a highland botanic garden and a flower cultivation base there.

(People's Daily 07/09/2001)