Why Is Sanmenxia So Popular with Whooper Swans？

“欣”闻NEWS|河南这座城市为何备受天鹅青睐？

 

A total of 15 tourist resorts are selected as a new batch of national tourist resorts of 2022 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China recently, including the Swan Lake Tourist Resort of Sanmenxia in Central China's Henan province.

近日，文化和旅游部发布关于确定15家旅游度假区为2022年新一批国家级旅游度假区的公示，三门峡市天鹅湖旅游度假区名列其中。

 

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Sanmenxia, the only inland urban habitat for swans in China, boasts two-thirds of the country's whooper swans. Why is Sanmenxia so popular with whooper swans?

三门峡是中国唯一的内陆城市天鹅栖息地，大天鹅数量占全国三分之二。这座城市为何如此备受大天鹅的青睐？

Swans in Sanmenxia. [Photo provided to dahe.cn]

 

Superior geographical location

地理位置优越

 

The reason why the Swan Lake Tourist Resort of Sanmenxia is selected for the list is closely connected with its superior geographical location and the rich cultural foundations of Sanmenxia city. Covering an area of 30.87 square kilometers, the Swan Lake Tourist Resort of Sanmenxia is located on the bank of the Yellow River near downtown Sanmenxia, a key area of the so-called Golden Triangle of the Yellow River formed by the provinces of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi. Besides, Sanmenxia has unique cultural resources, including 6 national key cultural relic protection sites and 33 provincial ones with over 70 thousand pieces of cultural relics collected.

三门峡天鹅湖旅游度假区能够入选此次国家级旅游度假区，与独特的地理位置、文化底蕴和旅游资源分不开。据了解，三门峡天鹅湖旅游度假区位于河南省三门峡市中心城区黄河岸边，处豫晋陕黄河金三角文化和旅游核心区，面积约30.87平方公里。同时，三门峡有着独特的文化资源，境内有全国重点文物保护单位6处，省级文物保护单位33处，馆藏文物7万余件。

Swans in Sanmenxia. [Photo provided to dahe.cn]

Favorable environment

生态环境适宜

 

Whooper swans have high requirements for a living environment with the most favorable water temperature ranging from 0 to 5 degrees Celsius. Sanmenxia has a good ecological system as well as abundant aquatic plants and animals with an average temperature from November to February of the following year ranging from 2.5 to 3.0 degrees Celsius. Besides, a trend of temperature rising has also been observed in recent years. So, the Yellow River is less likely to freeze, thus providing a good place for whooper swans to forage.

大天鹅对生存环境的要求很高，喜欢栖息生活于0℃~5℃的水面，三门峡生态环境良好，水生动植物丰富，而且历年11月—次年2月平均气温为2.5℃~3.0℃，近几年还呈现变暖趋势，黄河封冻概率很小，为大天鹅觅食提供了好去处。

Swans in Sanmenxia. [Photo provided to dahe.cn]

 

Protection of the Yellow River basin

黄河流域保护

 

So far, a 240 km ecological corridor along the Yellow River, which integrates the functions of ecological wetland, embankment and flood control, has been basically built in Sanmenxia. The number of habitats of white swans has increased to 9 with their activity range expanding to over 100 square kilometers. Sanmenxia has become the largest white swan habitat in China.

目前，三门峡市辖区内集生态湿地、护堤、防汛管理于一体的240公里沿黄复合型生态廊道基本贯通，白天鹅栖息地增加至9处，分布区域扩大到一百多平方公里，已成为全国最大的白天鹅核心栖息地。（中文来源/大河网 编译/赵汉青 杨佳欣 视频/何蒙贺 审校/张军平）