China’s first transnational tourism cooperation zone approaching trial operation stage

Entering the Detian Transnational Waterfall Scenic Area located in Guangxi, our visions are filled with the sight of the flaming kapok and the waterfall adding radiance and beauty to each other. Tourists walking around, rejuvenated the magnificent scenic spot.

According to the person in charge, on March 8, 2020, Detian Transnational Waterfall Scenic Area resumed operations in an orderly manner. On the day, it received 153 tourists coming from 11 provinces, with local tourists accounting for 46%. Recently, the scenic area is slowly recovering, and the number of tourists has remaining stable at around 300 daily.

The photo shows the beautiful scenery of Detian Waterfall on March 10. (Photo taken by Yu Jing/Chinanews.com)

Detian Waterfall is located in Detian Village, ShuoLong Town, Daxin County, Chongzuo City of Guangxi Province. It is situated on the upstream of Guichun river at the China-Vietnam border and is connected to Ban Gioc Waterfall in Vietnam. Detian Waterfall is the largest transnational waterfall in Asia and the fourth in the world.

In 2015, the Chinese and the Vietnamese government signed an agreement on Cooperative Protection and Development of the Detian (Ban Gioc) Waterfall Tourism Resources between Vietnam and China. This is the first cross-border tourism cooperation zone in China.

On March 10, the bamboo rafts used for sightseeing in the scenic area were suspended. (Photo taken by Yu Jing/Chinanews.com)

Qin Yimin, deputy secretary of Daxin County party committee said, "Based on the consensus reached by the two countries, the cross-border tourism cooperation zone is planning on running a trial operation in the first half of this year. However, due to the epidemic situation, the two sides have postponed the date of the trial. Once the outbreak is over, I believe that with the state leaders of the two countries pushing forward, the trial operations for the zone can successfully be put into operation within this year. "

Qin further mentioned that China and Vietnam have done a lot of preparation for this upcoming trial operation and both sides have upgraded and improved many aspects of their respective scenic spots. China has built the Detian Waterfall into a 5A-level scenic spot. At present, it is speeding up the construction of the Ascend a Height area to look over Vietnam and Sino-Vietnam duty-free shopping street projects. This is expected to be completed and put into use later in July this year. Meanwhile, Vietnam is also improving the construction of the parking lot and the waterfall viewing platform in the scenic spot.

"Presently, both sides have almost completed the construction of inspection points for tourist access in the cooperation zone. The Chinese side has installed the inspection equipment for the Department of Customs and Frontier Inspection situated at the inspection points, and is currently debugging the equipment," Qin said. He added that after the opening of the cooperation zone, tourists will only need to complete simple customs clearance procedures to watch the waterfall in Vietnam, and can enjoy the scenic spots within 2 square kilometers of both China and Vietnam.

According to the consensus reached by China and Vietnam, there will be two ways for tourists to enter and leave the cooperation zone. For tourists that carry a passport with them, they can directly go to Vietnam through the inspection channel with their passport. For tourists who do not have a passport, they can apply for a simple pass in the Exit and Entry Service Hall of the scenic spot. They will be allowed to go back and forth the scenic areas in both zones across the Sino-Vietnam borders, and will be able to visit the two countries within one day, enabling them to experience the different folk customs of both countries. (Compiled by Zhang Xinfeng)