The opening ceremony for the 2021 Yanggao Apricot Blossom Festival and Great Wall Cultural Tourism Season takes place in Shoukoubao village, Longquan town, Yanggao county, Datong city on April 16. [Photo/Datong Daily]

The 2021 Yanggao Apricot Blossom Festival and Great Wall Cultural Tourism Season opened in Shoukoubao village, Longquan town, Yanggao county, Datong city on April 16.

The event was hosted by Datong culture and tourism bureau and Yanggao county's government.

It's part of the county's strategy to explore the cultural and tourism potential of the Great Wall, promote local agricultural product brands and tourism, and help rural revitalization.

The apricot blossom festival consists of 15 cultural and entertainment activities such as recreational vehicle camping, displays of hanfu (a type of traditional Chinese clothing), and apricot blossom appreciation. The Great Wall tourism season meanwhile focuses on building a tourism brand with the Great Wall at its core, and includes spring flower sightseeing, rural tours, and historical sites with a revolutionary legacy. 

Yanggao county, which has an apricot cultivation history of over 300 years, is a famous production center for apricots in Shanxi province. The county has planted 12,520 hectares of apricot trees, accounting for 85.87 percent of its total fruit tree planting area. Apricots have created a revenue of more than 180 million yuan ($27.59 million), making production of this fruit a major means of increasing people's incomes.

Shoukoubao, located 8 kilometers north of Yanggao's county seat, was an important place for stationing troops on the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Based on its local environment and unique historical culture, the county has been pushing the high-quality development of its healthcare and cultural tourism industries in recent years.

The annual Yanggao Apricot Blossom Festival and Great Wall Cultural Tourism Season has attracted a large number of tourists every year to enjoy flowers, fruits, hot springs and farm food, and visit the ancient Great Wall. The events have greatly expanded the sales of local agricultural products, and promoted the development of rural tourism, rural revitalization and poverty alleviation.