Tourism brings new life, income to ancient site

Regarded as the starting point of China's modern tourism development, Huangshan, a city in the eastern province of Anhui, has been working hard to upgrade the sector in the new era.

Tangyue village in Huangshan's Shexian county has long been famous for its complex of seven well-preserved ancient arches that run along an old road at the center of the village.

In 1996, the Tangyue Memorial Archway was listed as a key national cultural protection unit as it is the largest and best-preserved arch complex in the province.

Several hundred meters from the entrance to the arches lies a 130-hectare agriculture leisure park, which features an agricultural science and technology museum, a greenhouse containing tropical plants and other vegetable and fruit cultivation bases that provide visitors with hands-on experience.

Though it will not officially open to the public until October, about 5,000 people got an early glimpse when they visited the site during the five-day Labor Day holiday, which began on May 1, according to Zhu Sheming, general manager of the park, whose name, April Village, is derived from a famous pastoral poem.

Construction started in 2019 on land transferred from local villagers. The same year, Tangyue received nearly 1 million visits, mostly to the arches, according to the county government.

On May 1, the management committee of the Huangshan Mountain Scenic Spot warned that the number of online appointments for the next day had reached the upper limit of 35,500.

Though a further 2,000 tickets were reserved for people who had no access to online platforms, such as seniors, many others had to wait at the entrance or visit other destinations.

"Huangshan enjoys abundant natural and cultural tourism resources, and local residents and visiting tourists want to enrich their experience here, especially as they care greatly about their children's enjoyment," said Zhu from the agriculture park.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the daily limit for visits to Huangshan Mountain, aka the Yellow Mountain, was 50,000, equivalent to half the entire number of visits in 1979.

In July 1979, Deng Xiaoping, China's leader who initiated the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, visited the mountain as one of about 104,000 trips made that year.

During his visit, Deng urged local officials to develop the mountain into an internationally renowned tourism destination.

Since then, Huangshan's tourism sector has grown rapidly, benefiting local people.

Inspired by Deng's ideas, residents of Shangzhang, a village in Tangkou township at the foot of the mountain, founded Feicuigu Tourism Co in 1987.

The villagers named the collectively-owned scenic spot Feicuigu, or "Emerald Valley", because the water in the brooks and pools is crystal clear with a green tinge like an emerald.

By the end of the first year of operation, the company had earned more than 100,000 yuan from entrance fees.

In 2019, about 74 million visitors came to Huangshan－about seven times the number of visitors to Hawaii the same year－while visitor numbers from outside the Chinese mainland were 2.87 million, about twice those to Hainan province, according to local government statistics.

In a recent Guangming Daily report, Sun Yong, Huangshan's mayor, said the city's tourism sector has had to be upgraded. Many measures have been taken, including preventing unreasonable rises in ticket prices, improving facilities at the growing number of hostels and enriching the tourism content, which is the aim of Zhu's agricultural park project.

Hu Weimin, a marketing executive with Yixian Huihuang Tourism Group, a State-run company in Yixian county, said hardly any towns and villages are not benefiting from Huangshan's tourism sector, while competition among them and with other attractions nearby is becoming fiercer.

"Tourists keep coming, but sightseeing is just an old-fashioned way of traveling－we have to think about how to attract people to stay for as long as possible and really enjoy their stay," Hu said.

His company runs 13 of the 17 major tourist attractions in the county, including Xidi and Hongcun villages, which are jointly listed as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. The villages are known for their history and the preservation of residences built during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

"In the daytime, visitors can enjoy every piece of delicate carved artwork on the old buildings, while we want them to have more fun at night," Hu said.

With investment of 30 million yuan ($4.6 million), the company installed a water screen film in Xidi village in 2019, which straddles several ponds and brooks and lights up all the outdoor areas.

Xu Dahe, director of the Huangshan Culture and Tourism Bureau, told Guangming Daily, "Extending the tourists' visits also extends the scope for tourism consumption."