China plans park bigger than Yellowstone

China plans to carve a huge national park out of its vast northwest Xinjiang region that would eclipse Yellowstone National Park in size, state media said.

The Kanas Geological Park, now about 385 square miles, would be expanded to about 10 times that size in the next few years by incorporating nearby tourist regions and grassland, Xinhua News Agency said.

Yellowstone covers about 3,470 square miles.

Kanas park is 620 miles north of the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi and includes China's deepest alpine lake, snowcapped mountains and grassland.

More than 900,000 tourists visited the park in the first 10 months this year, a 32 percent rise over the same period last year, Xinhua said.