Hebei rolling out more tourism products to lure visitors

On Sunday, Tianjin resident Wang Jing embarked on a leisurely drive with her parents and child to the neighboring city of Langfang in Hebei province, eager to explore what attractions awaited them as the city was holding a gala showcasing the whole province's tourism industry.

After driving for about an hour, they arrived at the Shuiyunjian Cultural and Commercial Street in Langfang, where they witnessed a spectacular "Meat Pie Championship".

"I saw many cooks sharing the process of making their meat pies and offering them for sale. Very delicious," Wang said, adding that she and her family love to eat Xianghe Roubing, or meat pies from Xianghe county in Langfang, which is famous for its meat pies.

They also walked around a nearby fair that showcased over 30,000 products, including cultural and creative products highlighting Hebei tourism features, clothing, household items, various daily necessities, intangible cultural heritage products and various Hebei specialty foods.

After lunch, they went to Xianghe county because she had heard that the furniture in Xianghe is very famous because of its good quality. "I wanted to see if we could find some suitable home furnishings," Wang said.

The events and places that Wang and her family visited were all part of the 8th Conference of Hebei Tourism Industry Development, which kicked off on Sunday and lasted till Tuesday, with the main venue set in Langfang and a branch venue set in nearby Dingzhou city.

During the conference, a total of 16 events will be held at the main and branch venues, according to the hosts, including Hebei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

In recent years, Hebei has organized tourism galas in different provincial cities, as one of its main methods of promoting the province's tourism development.

Hebei has been ramping up efforts in tourism, Ni Yuefeng, Party secretary of the province, said at a promotional conference on Monday in Langfang.

"The province has rich historical and cultural resources, and a beautiful natural ecological environment. It boasts geographical and market advantages with a location adjacent to Beijing and Tianjin," Ni said.

"The prospects for tourism development are broad and the potential is enormous," he said.

Hebei's efforts in tourism are well reflected by a slogan it has been promoting in recent years — Close and beautiful as Hebei is, enjoy your weekends here. The slogan targets residents in neighboring Beijing and Tianjin and has had widespread influence.

During the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the number of tourists welcomed by the entire province and the total tourism expenditure rebounded 146.1 percent and 144.3 percent, respectively, compared to levels in 2019.

Among them, the proportion of tourists from Beijing and Tianjin reached 17.2 percent, exceeding historical levels for the same period, according to a report by Hebei Daily, quoting Hebei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

In March 2023, Hebei introduced a policy offering free access to expressways for tourist charter buses during weekends and holidays. Since then, more than 1.5 million tourist charter buses have traveled for free on the expressways to tour the province. The accumulated waived toll fees amount to 240 million yuan ($34 million), with an average waiver of 154 yuan per vehicle per trip, according to Hebei Provincial Department of Transport.

Ni said Hebei will enrich its supply of high-quality tourism products and launch a series of distinctive tourism routes to develop its cities as high-quality tourist destinations.

In addition to attracting tourists from neighboring areas, Hebei is also enhancing its inbound tourism services, aiming to attract more international visitors to Hebei, according to the Hebei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.