A-rated scenic spots surge in Shanxi over 10 yrs

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2022-09-01

North China's Shanxi province has focused on developing popular tourist destinations, with the number of national A-rated scenic spots increasing to 268 from 2012 to 2022.

The province has become the eighth provincial-level national demonstration zone for all-for-one tourism, which refers to a regional coordinated development model that takes tourism as an important industry in certain areas and uses the sector to drive and promote the whole region's joint socioeconomic development. 

Seven counties and county-level cities in the province, including Hongtong, Yangcheng and Pingyao, have become national demonstration zones for all-for-one tourism. 

The development of research and study tours, recreation travel, road trips, and air tours by helicopter has boomed in the province during this period. 

The province has developed 100 demonstration villages for rural tourism and 300 demonstration villages for tourism-driven poverty alleviation, and selected 458 recommended homestay operators along the Yellow River, the Great Wall and Taihang Mountains. 

Taiyuan Ancient County, Bell Tower Street, Ancient City of Pingyao, Ancient City of Xinzhou, and Another Glance at Pingyao Cultural Industry Park have been named national nighttime culture and tourism consumption clusters. 

Taiyuan and Yuncheng have become national pilot cities of cultural and tourism consumption. 

The nine Yellow River National Cultural Parks, nine Great Wall National Cultural Parks, and eight key scenic spot tourism infrastructure construction projects have been included in the national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) cultural protection and utilization project reserve bank. 

In addition, Shanxi has held regular activities such as the Shanxi Tourism Development Conference and the Great Rivers Civilization Forum on Tourism, strongly promoting its cultural tourism brands.