Thousands of tourists throng UNESCO World Heritage Site as China relaxes coronavirus restrictions

(TAN): Around 20,000 tourists thronged the Huangshan Mountain in China as soon as the country relaxed its quarantine restrictions, reports said.

According to reports, China’s Huangshan or Yellow Mountains in Anhui province witnessed thousands of visitors pouring in over the holiday weekend as the provincial government offered free entry to the site on the three-day Ching Ming festival or Tomb Sweeping Day. Anhui’s provincial government reportedly offered free entry to 29 attractions, including Huangshan, to boost tourism.

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Photographs and videos that were circulated on Chinese social media platform Weibo showed people, many with their faces covered in masks, crammed together on the paths of the mountain range, as per reports. By Sunday morning, park authorities were forced to shut down the popular site as numbers had reached its daily capacity of 20,000, reports said.

Before entering the site, visitors were required to share their health status on an app and get their temperatures checked, and wear surgical masks after gaining entry, as per reports.

Huangshan, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990, is also known as “the loveliest mountain of China”. Famous for its scenery composed of granite peaks and rocks peeking from clouds, is visited by artists and nature lovers alike.

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Anhui shares its western border with Hubei province, where the coronavirus had initially broken out, infecting 67,803 people and claiming 3,212 lives, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, Anhui reported 990 cases, including six deaths, while China reported overall 82,665 cases, Johns Hopkins University data showed.

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