On May 30th, the unveiling ceremony of the Mt. Siguniang UNESCO Global Geopark and the 7th Mt. Siguniang Cloud Flower Trail Cross-Country Run & Gold League China Series Finals were held simultaneously. The dual celebration of the unveiling event and the sports ceremony innovatively created a cultural and tourism IP integrating "geological science popularization + outdoor sports", continuously strengthening the brand reputation of "China's No.1 Mountain for Outdoor Sports", and officially kicking off a new journey of international development for Mt. Siguniang.
Xu Zhiqin, a CAS Member and professor at Nanjing University, Zhang Jianping, a member of the UNESCO Global Geopark Council and Vice Chairman of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN), Zheng Yuan, a member of the GGN Advisory Committee and a senior evaluation expert for UNESCO Global Geoparks, Chen Zongqian, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Administration, Wang Shuming, the Deputy Governor of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, as well as relevant leaders at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels, and sister parks attended the event.
At the ceremony, Chen Zongqian, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Administration, read out the approval document for the Unesco Global Geopark.
Xu Zhiqin, a CAS Member and professor at Nanjing University, presented a plaque for the "Naming of 'Xikang-style' Fold" landmark.
Mt. Siguniang signed a "Sister Park" agreement with the UNESCO Global Geopark of Guangwu Mountain ‑Nuoshui River‑ and the Unesco Global Geopark of Mount Sanqing. Key leaders and guests jointly unveiled the plaque for the Mt. Siguniang UNESCO Global Geopark. During the same period, a series of activities such as geological field visits, park development symposiums, and museum cluster visits were also carried out, comprehensively showcasing the geological scientific research value and conservation achievements.
The unveiling ceremony marks the elevation of Mt. Siguniang from a resource protection area to a global hub for scientific research, popular science, cultural tourism, and sustainable development. As the first UNESCO Global Geopark on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the one with the largest number of extremely high mountains above 5,000 meters globally, its regional geological status and scientific research value have gained international recognition. The park preserves complete structural remains of orogenic belts, ancient Stratigraphy features, and Quaternary Glaciers imprints, clearly engraved with the natural codes of earth plate movements and plateau geomorphological evolution over billions of years. It combines scarce geological scientific research value, original natural resource endowments, and rich Jiarong cultural heritage. Relying on the world-class resource base, the scenic area's international reputation and global influence have further increased.
This event aims to empower the unveiling of the geopark through cross-country racing, with two major blockbuster events mutually empowering and building momentum. On one hand, runners will gallop through the mountains and compete on the cloud-covered track, fully experiencing the majestic and magnificent Extremely High Mountain landform. On the other hand, the UNESCO Global Geopark will officially debut, unveiling the mysterious veil of Earth's hidden wonders to the public. The deep integration of the vitality of sports and the richness of geological science popularization breaks the traditional cultural tourism development model, shaping a unique composite cultural tourism identity, and continuously enhancing the benchmark image of outdoor sports in Mt. Siguniang.
Relying on the momentum created by the dual activities, the scenic area will seize the peak season of cultural and tourism consumption in summer and autumn, continuously releasing the brand's traffic-generating effect and fully stimulating the steady warming of the tourism market. In the future, it will adhere to the bottom line of ecological development, coordinate and promote the protection of geological relics and natural ecology conservation, deeply cultivate diverse formats such as geological science popularization and research, plateau outdoor sports, and folk culture experience, and promote the upgrading and quality improvement of the outdoor industry. At the same time, it will drive the surrounding villages and towns to increase income and prosperity through the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry, empowering the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and truly practicing the development concept of "developing in protection and protecting in development".
Standing at a new world-class development starting point, Mount Siguniang will fully leverage the "international business card" of UNESCO Global Geopark, based on its unique resource advantages, to continuously deepen the integrated development model of culture, tourism, and sports. It will continue to improve the supporting service system, enrich the supply of high-quality cultural and tourism products, fully demonstrate the geological charm of the extremely high mountains, the beauty of western Sichuan's ecology, and the ethnic and cultural customs, and strive to transform world-class resource advantages into industrial development advantages, creating an eco-tourism and outdoor sports destination renowned both domestically and internationally.