On the evening of August 3rd, a video posted by a netizen claimed that thousands of tourists were stranded at the end point of the drifting route in the Honghe Valley scenic area in Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province, as there were no shuttle buses available. The tourists had to walk several kilometers back from the scenic spot to the ticket office and many of them started demanding refunds.
One of the tourists, Xiao Yuan, who was stranded in the scenic area that day, told Chao News reporters on August 4th that he and his group of nine family members and friends had set off from Changchun at 6 a.m. on the 3rd. They arrived at the Honghe Gorge for drifting around 10 a.m., and were taken by shuttle bus to the starting point for the drift.
“In the afternoon around 1 p.m. when the drifting ended, we saw a large number of tourists queuing up at the end point, waiting for shuttle buses to return. However, there were no more shuttle buses available by that time,” Xiao Yuan said. He mentioned that since there was no resting hall at the end point, people were sitting on the ground. By 3:40 p.m., when there were still no shuttle buses in sight, they began walking back alongside everyone else.
“The return route is 5.2 kilometers, the navigation estimated 1 hour and 16 minutes, but it actually took us over 2 hours. Moreover, it’s not a downhill path, it’s all uphill. Most tourists were wearing water shoes, slippers, or sandals, making movement very inconvenient,” Xiao Yuan explained. He added that the road was so congested that there was no space to move. When they reached the ticket office, they intended to get their deposits refunded, only to find that no staff from the Honghe Gorge drifting area was present, but instead encountered a scene where people were clamoring for refunds.
Another tourist, Xiao Wang, mentioned that he departed from Shenyang at 8 a.m. and arrived at the scenic area at 3 p.m., where a large number of tourists were already stuck. After waiting for two and a half hours at the drifting starting point, they were informed that the drifting activities had been suspended.
During the night of the same day, Red Star News learned from two tourists that most visitors had already left the scenic area on their own. One of the tourists mentioned that by around 11 p.m. on the 3rd, the scenic area had promised to handle refunds for the affected visitors.
It was reported that due to the impact of heavy rain, the Honghe Valley drifting had been closed for several days. With the recent sunny weather, there had been a surge in tourists, with rumors circulating that tens of thousands of tourists had flocked to the area, while the average daily number of visitors received by the Honghe Valley was only around a thousand.
Public information shows that the Honghe Gorge drifting scenic area is a national 4A-level scenic spot located in Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. The scenic area covers an area of 25 square kilometers, with a 12.8-kilometer drifting route in the summer that takes about 2.5 hours to complete, often referred to as the “first drift in northern China.”