The Ancient City of Pingyao is a popular tourist destination in Shanxi. [Photo/shanxi.gov.cn]

North China's Shanxi province achieved fruitful results in culture and tourism development last year.

The drama Long Poem of the Northern Wei Dynasty created by Datong Song and Dance Theatre in Shanxi province was unveiled as a special invitation to Beijing during the 13th China Art Festival last September. Also displayed at the festival were 16 pieces of works concerning fine arts, calligraphy, seal carving and photography.

The province issued and implemented several measures to protect and pass down local folk arts. This included establishing the Jinzhong National Culture Reserve, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism recognizing the Xuemei Embroidery Workshop in Loufan county as a typical case of intangible cultural heritage. 

Throughout the last year, Shanxi added eight 4A-rated, 57 3A-rated, two 2A-rated tourist attractions. The counties in the jurisdiction of Linfen, Yuncheng and Yangquan all had A-rated scenic areas. 

Twenty-three travel routes recommended by the province are now regarded as nationally recommended rural travel routes. In addition, six regions in Shanxi were rated as national key rural tourism towns, townships and villages. 

The Jinhuagong Underground Exploration scenic area in Datong and the Liuweizhai Yunmengwu scenic area in Taiyuan were recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as national industrial tourism demonstration bases. 

In addition, the Shengtian Lake scenic area in Yuncheng was given the title of national demonstration area for sports tourism development. 

In 2022, the 13 national 4A-rated scenic spots in the province were rewarded with 26 million yuan ($3.75 million), and over 10 million yuan in incentive funds were given to travel agencies for attracting visitors to the province. 

To date, Shanxi has seven cultural demonstration parks and 36 cultural demonstration bases. There are also four national-level and 15 provincial-level nighttime culture and tourism consumption clusters across the province.