Jinzhong becomes top cultural tourist city for greater China

The city of Jinzhong, in North China’s Shanxi province, has been added to the list of Top 10 cultural tourist cities in China, according to an announcement at the annual Asia Tourism Awards Ceremony, in Beijing, on Aug 25.

Jinzhong is considered one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture and is home to the old city of Pingyao, a World Heritage Site recognized for its well-preserved layout.

There were 70 cities honored at the ceremony for their unique culture, after a committee researched 1,000 tourist sites and 500 tourist cities in China in a lengthy process that began May, with the final results arrived at through the review process and online voting.

The Asia Tourism Awards is considered the most valuable reference for holiday outings and its awards are an important index across the tourism industry in the Asia-Pacific region. The ceremony itself began back in 1999 as a way to help develop Asia’s tourism industry and provide theoretical and intellectual support for the industry.

This year’s ceremony had a theme of “Chinese style and Chinese passion”.

Edited by Lin Hong and Roger Bradshaw