Culture & Tourism Venues in Da Qaidam Temporarily Closed
After a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai on June 16, all culture and tourism venues in Da Qaidam were temporarily closed for safety inspections.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, a magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck at 17:06 on June 16 in the directly administered area of Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. On June 17, the Haixi Prefecture Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television Bureau issued a notice stating that, due to the impact of the earthquake, all culture and tourism business venues and tourism sites in the Da Qaidam area have been placed under temporary closure and control. At present, the local government has fully launched a comprehensive safety hazard inspection and rectification effort across scenic areas as well as emergency risk-elimination work.
According to the notice, starting June 17, scenic spots such as Emerald Lake, the Water Yardang, Snow Mountain Hot Springs and the Red Cliff Martian Landform Scenic Area, as well as tourist homestays, rural tourism reception sites and all kinds of tourism business operators within the Da Qaidam area, shall all suspend their business and reception operations. This closure is a temporary, area-wide closure; only after safety hazards across the area have been thoroughly inspected and cleared and a joint acceptance inspection by the emergency management and culture and tourism departments has been passed may they resume opening to the public and operations, with the resumption time to be announced separately.
The notice advised tourists who have planned or intend to travel to the Da Qaidam area to immediately cancel their trips and by no means go to the earthquake-affected areas without authorization. Travel agencies must pay close attention to the emergency response and road traffic conditions in the quake zone, promptly adjust travel routes, avoid roads, scenic areas and culture and tourism sites in the Da Qaidam quake zone, and strictly prohibit organizing or dispatching tour groups to the quake zone for any tourism activities, so as to eliminate tourism safety risks. Tourists stranded in the quake zone should obey the unified dispatch of local public security, emergency management and culture and tourism department staff and evacuate the quake zone in an orderly manner along officially designated safe evacuation routes. After evacuation is completed, all personnel are strictly prohibited from returning to the quake zone without authorization, to avoid being threatened by secondary disasters such as falling rocks and road collapses. Tourists who have purchased scenic area tickets, tourism packages and related tourism products for the Da Qaidam area through online or offline channels may directly process a full, free refund through their original ticketing channels, with no handling fees or penalty charges of any kind throughout the refund or change process. (Li Feng)
(This article is compiled from a publicly released article by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; see the link at the beginning of the text for the original.)