Tracing footsteps of Joseph Rock
Local tourism authorities in Sichuan Province are recruiting worldwide backpackers, photographic enthusiasts and literature lovers to trace the footsteps of Austrian-American explorer and botanist Joseph Rock, who unveiled the natural beauty of Muli Tibetan Autonomous County to the world in the 1920s.
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The activity, themed "Tracing the footsteps of Joseph Rock•Crossing the Muli Kingdom—Seeking the world's most beautiful attractions," will last for three years. It is organized by the Tourism Bureau of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
Those who have great interest can submit their applications to the Marketing Division of the tourism bureau between February 1 and May 1. (Tel: 86-0834-2166153, Fax:86-0834-2168438).
This year's expedition activity falls into two sessions, respectively between June 1 and 8, and between October 10 and 17.
Six photographers, four authors, four famous bloggers and two tourism planning experts will be invited to take part in this year's expedition, which is focused on exploring the "Rock 900-li (450 km) ecotourism route."
Muli, located in the southern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is a beautiful and mysterious place well-known for being part of China's Shangri-La ecotourism core areas.
In the 1920s, Rock visited Muli three times and published in the National Geographic magazine his travelogues about Muli, which were said to have inspired English author James Hilton's description of Shangri-La, a fictional valley and earthly paradise in his 1933 novel--"Lost Horizon."
