Xuefeng Mountain Cableway

Photo/Tong Zhenxi, Hunan Daily

On September 12, the 7,600-meter-long Xuefeng Mountain Cableway in Hunan commenced its maiden journey. A reporter experienced firsthand a seamless transfer from Xupu South Station on the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway onto the cable car, covering a vertical drop of 1,158.5 meters in just 23 minutes to reach the Shanbei Huayao Terraced Fields Scenic Area on Xuefeng Mountain, at an altitude of 1,450 meters. The stunning views of mountains, terraced fields, seas of clouds, forests, and gorges can be seen in all their splendor.

The Xuefeng Mountain Cableway has set a new record as "the world's longest alpine cableway." Its lower station, located in Beidouxi Town, Xupu County, connects seamlessly to Xupu South Station on the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway; its upper station, situated at Yanzi Ridge in Gezhuping Town, Xupu County, provides direct access to the Dahuayao Huxing Mountain Scenic Area in Longhui County upon transfer. Previously, due to steep winding mountain roads in high-altitude areas, travel between the core scenic spots of Xupu County in Huaihua and Longhui County in Shaoyang took over two hours.

The Xuefeng Mountain area is a primary front for rural revitalization in Hunan and one of the province's five major tourism sectors designated by the provincial Party committee and the provincial government. The unique alpine terrain of Xuefeng Mountain, combined with long-standing rice farming culture, Qu Yuan culture, intangible cultural heritage, and wartime culture, endows the region with irreplaceable tourism assets.

With the cableway now operational, core tourism resources such as the Chuanyan Mountain Scenic Area in Xupu, the wartime ancient village of Yangquepo Scenic Area, the Shanbei Huayao Terraced Fields Scenic Area, and the Dahuayao Huxing Mountain Scenic Area in Longhui are interconnected. Tourists can embark on a "cloud journey" aboard the "Sky Train," enjoying aerial views of cloud seas while stepping directly into the terraced fields." A tourism distribution hub centered around the high-speed rail station has been activated, acting as a new engine for cross-regional tourism development in Huaihua and Shaoyang. In the future, this will strongly support the planned construction of supporting projects such as high-end resort hotels, forest wellness bases, and ski mountain sports parks, laying a solid foundation for Xuefeng Mountain to become a world-class tourist destination.

The basic one-way fare for the cable car is a discounted price of 80 yuan per person, with a special offer of 50 yuan per person; the round-trip discounted fare is 140 yuan per person, with a special offer of 80 yuan per person. A particularly people-friendly pricing mechanism has been introduced, offering exceptional discounts for residents of Huaihua and Shaoyang.

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn