Nianbaoyuze: How Protection Reshaped the Landscape

In April 2018, Nianbaoyuze Scenic Area closed after tourism development in the protected area was found to violate regulations. A National Forestry and Grassland Administration account describes the closure as indefinite. A later report records that the former tourism facilities were removed and grassland returned to a more natural state.

The sequence changed the physical landscape: buildings and visitor infrastructure that had occupied the protected area were taken away, leaving grassland to recover. In Jiuzhi County, conservation policy became visible through a change in what stood on the ground.

The forestry account identifies Nianbaoyuze as important breeding and habitat ground for black-necked cranes. The mountain’s water and pasture form part of that habitat, linking land protection to the seasonal life of a highland bird.

Nianbaoyuze also appears in local oral tradition. A national heritage record presents the mountain as an ancestral protector in stories about the origins of the Three Golok groups. These accounts place the same mountain in two distinct settings: conservation work around habitat, and community stories carried across generations.