A member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering said that those living in the habitable highland areas of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau can enjoy health benefits, and he suggested that Guizhou could develop tourism focusing on this particular advantage.

"Although I have spent a lifetime conducting plateau medical research, my purpose today is to talk about the advantages of highland areas", Wu Tianyi, said in a report titled "Health Benefits in Plateaus: Guizhou is an Ideal Living Place" presented at a forum on disease prevention during the 15th China Association for Science and Technology held in Guizhou on May 26.

Four of China's big plateaus cover a total of 50% of the country's territory and are home to more than 150 million people.

The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is China's fourth largest plateau, and Wu said that though the whole of the province is located on the plateau its average elevation is just 1,100 meters - so that Guizhou is "like a big natural park for human living due to its pleasant geographical environment and climate".

He also said that people who have lived for a long time in plateaus have lower prevalence of hypertension, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and obesity because of their oxygen intake ability.

Wu also indicated that the oxygen intake ability will change with the plateau environment so that it can provide early treatment for certain diseases such as early hypertension, coronary artery disease, aplastic anemia, bronchial asthma and diabetes.

He added that with the average elevation of 1,100 meters, even though Guizhou is situated in the plateau area, the location is in fact a critical point of plateaus, therefore, people can take the advantage of the mountain climate to improve health through appropriate exercises. Meanwhile, Guizhou province also should develop health tourism with this advantage.