Pingyao county looks to lead cultural tourism industry

Pingyao wants to provide a perfect example of cultural development and hopes that the China Pingyao International Photography Festival can be an international brand and a site for cultural exchanges with the outside world. Its "Chinese New Year in Pingyao" and "Spring Festival theme tours" was designated one of the Top 100 activities and Top 10 folk customs of China and its "Experience Pingyao Once More", China's first large indoor, was well-received and has become a model of Shanxi cultural tourism.

The old part of Pingyao is a world heritage site with a long history and an unusual panoramic view of life in the the Ming (1368－1644) and Qing (1644－1911) dynasties. In recent years, it has had a strategy of restructuring its industries through culture, with an eye on building a Jin merchant cultural tourism and Shanxi tourism center. Wei Mingxi，Pingyao county Party secretary, said, "Pingyao has plenty of cultural tourism resources and development advantages and we should make full use of our cultural power to strengthen competitiveness."

Pingyao county has tourism development programs and an outline for culture industry development that centers on an international tourist resort and its "Increasing reform and promoting sustainable tourism development in Pingyao" was approved on the 8th Plenary Session of the 13th Pingyao county Party Committee on July 31, with two major tasks – making Pingyao a center for both Jin merchant cultural tourism and Shanxi tourism, three reforms concerning management, ticket-selling and traffic, and five priorities related to preserving cultural relics, attracting material, human and capital resources, and promoting tourism, to make Pingyao a more modernized and stronger cultural center.

There have been great changes in Pingyao as a result of investment and urban construction and its central part is giving attention to preserving the old town, improving the Huiji River to the east, building a business district to the west, and starting an 8-billion-yuan ($1.3 billion) project. It also wants to improve its cultural construction security and public culture service and ensure cultural program funds, all of them for shared prosperity.

Pingyao is improving the environment, tourist industry staff, and travel agencies to raise its service level and is developing tourism through a "going global" strategy, key projects, and special funds. The county government has put 10 million yuan into tourism this year and has 14 folk art associations that have attracted talented people and published related books, with various sectors doing their part to promote the cultural industry and traditional handicrafts.

After years of exploration, the culture industry has built up momentum and has 21 tourist attractions, six industrial blocks, 100 tourist service stations, 22 travel agencies, 600 tourist guides, 400 special buses, 150 hotels, and 60,000 tourist employees. It has a development system that contributes a lot of added value of tertiary industry and accounts for 46 percent of Pingyao's total GDP and is a driving force for development. Pingyao county received the “Advanced county in Shanxi cultural development” award and "Advanced unit in Shanxi cultural development" award, in December 2012.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw