The Jiuzhaigou National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province, one of the most acclaimed tourist destinations in China and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is regaining its beauty after a year of post-quake reconstruction.
The national park, also known as the Jiuzhai Valley, contains around 20 tourist sites and is known for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forest, serene plateau lakes, and karst rock formations.
But the pristine scenery was left scarred by a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake on August 8, 2017, and the flooding of this summer caused further damages to the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, which has been temporarily closed since July for renovation.
The powerful earthquake was a blow to the local tourism industry, which is the region's primary industry. In 2016, Jiuzhaigou received 7.2 million tourists, including 180,000 foreigners, with the total tourism revenue hitting 9 billion yuan (1.35 billion US dollars). Last year, the number of tourists dropped sharply to 2.5 million, with ticket revenue more than halved.
The Sichuan government unveiled a 11.8 billion yuan reconstruction plan for Jiuzhaigou last November. The whole renovation project is expected to be completed by 2020.