National photo exhibition to shine in Sanmenxia

The 12th China (Sanmenxia) White Swan Wildlife International Photography Festival will take place in Sanmenxia, the swan city of Henan province, from Nov 18 to 27.

This year's exhibition, based around the theme "Focusing on the new era, the Golden Statue reflects the original will", will display the award-winning works of the Golden Statue Award for China Photography, as well as works on China's reform and opening up over the past 40 years.

Sanmenxia, situated in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Henan Yellow River Golden Triangle Area, has a forest coverage rate of 50.72 percent, ranking it first in Henan province. As one of the main ecological tourist cities in Henan, Sanmenxia currently contains four national and six provincial forest parks. With a total area of more than 10,000 mu (666.67 hectares), of which 3,000 mu is water, the city's Swan Lake National Urban Wetland Park is the largest city park in northern China. It attracts tens of thousands of white swans from Siberia that stop there every year during their annual winter migration, earning Sanmenxia the moniker "swan city". Thanks to its well-preserved and favorable environment, the national exhibition chose the city as its permanent venue.

Through years of hard work, Sanmenxia has made great efforts to protect the white swans who spend the winter in the city and celebrate White Swans' Day on Nov 22 annually to further promote the protection of these beautiful creatures.