Beihai Wetland Reserve in Tengchong County, Baoshan
Chinese Name: 腾冲北海湿地公园
Chinese Pinyin: Teng Chong Bei Hai Shi Di Gong Yuan
English Name: Beihai Wetland Reserve in Tengchong County, Baoshan
Type: wetland, park
Opening Hours: 09:00~18:00
Recommended Visiting Hours: half day
Ticket: RMB 110
Best Time to Visit: April to May
Location: north-west part of Tengchong City
Beihai Wetland Reserve
The wetland is surrounded by mountains, located in a special geographical position, and is a typical subtropical volcanic lava barrier lake marsh wetland. The reserve features a “floating blanket style” marsh, complex biodiversity and high productivity. The reserve is not only a garden of national protected plants like Brasenia schreberi and wildwater chestnuts, but it is also a paradise for water birds.
Where is Beihai Wetland Reserve?
Tengchong Beihai Wetland Reserve is located in the north-west part of Tengchong County, at a distance of 12.5 kilometers from the county. It is the only National Wetland Reserve in Yunnan Province, covering an area of 16.29 square kilometers.
How to get to Beihai Wetland Reserve?
Take a minibus at Tengchong Ximen Bus Station; the trip costs 5 yuan and takes 20 minutes. It is a good choice for you to cycle to Beihai Wetland Reserve and enjoy the beautiful scenery on the way.
What to See
Water Grassland
Tengchong Wetland is very special. Numerous lush water plants are interwoven and are continuously thriving. Day after day, year after year, old plants decompose and new plants sprout, finally contributing to many one-meter thick meadows, like small grass islands floating above the water. Walking barefoot on a grass island is like walking on a sponge.
Local people often cut apart a grass meadow and use it as a raft so that they can catch fishes and shrimps on it; some people even dig a small hole in a meadow and put a fishing rod through the hole to go fishing which is very interesting.
Every mid-to-late April is the most beautiful season in the reserve; you will love the sea of blooming Beihai orchids there. The meadows turn yellow in autumn but are still amazing to see. The aroma of grass is floating in the air, wild ducks are quacking from amongst the reeds, and tourists are enjoying taking soft steps on the meadows. Boating on the lake, surrounded by the beautiful landscape, you will feel like you are in a prairie, a prairie floating on the water.
Main Attractions
Graveyard of the National Heroes
The Graveyard of the National Heroes (国殇墓园) constructed to honour the martyrs at the battle of recovering Tengchong lies in the west of the county seat at about 1 kilometre’s distance. The construction was started in 1944 and completed on the 7th of July, 1945. It was Li Genyuan who called for the construction of the memorial graveyard. Covering over 10,000 square meters, the main structures are the memorial tower, the martyrs’ tombs, the memorial hall and the gate.
Tengchong Rehai Hot Spring Scenic Area, commonly known as Rehai, is located in Qingshui Township, southwest of Tengchong County, about 10 kilometers from Tengchong County. There are more than 80 hot springs in the this area, offering the water over 90 °C. You can see the hot springs screaming everywhere, making the scenic area foggy. Rehai Hot Spring provides soft water in high temperature and high salinity, which are beneficial to the health. It is the best place for geothermal therapy in China.
Best Time to Visit
The most beautiful season in Beihai Wetland is from April to May, with a land full of purple orchids.
Useful Travel Tips
Hotels in Tengchong County are based in the Gongting Alley area; travel advisers of Yunnan Exploration will arrange the best accommodation for you.
