Way to 5A tourism site

Wudang Mountain, as a famous origin of Chinese Taoism and world cultural heritage, has a huge appeal to visitors. It was honored in May 2011 as one of the 5A (the highest grade) state-level scenic spots thanks to the park officials’ distinctive attempts to innovate the development pattern. A scientific blueprint is the first effort.

Park officials invited experts from prestigious universities such as Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to compile overall planning for the effort.

They also invited more than 100 world renowned specialists from the United States, Canada and Australia to make plans for the Taiji Lake tourism zone, a cutting edge development in Wudang Mountain.

These high-end programs have guaranteed the tourism area will enter into a scientific way of development and protection.

Park officials always make protection a priority, investing nearly 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) in the restoration and maintenance of 20 ancient architectures, including Xuanyue Gate, Nanyan Palace and Qiongtai Temple. Meanwhile, they also stepped up the management of 62 protected cultural relics by making electric files, adding fire fighting devices and installing lightning conductors and video monitoring systems.

The natural ecological resources are also within the scope of protection reinforcement. In addition to planting trees and returning land to forestry, they also established a database for the ancient trees and valuable plants.

The reservation of both the natural and cultural assets secures the sustainable development of the Wudang Mountain tourism areas.

The classic saying, “Details determine the success or failure,” is always remembered by park officials. They accelerated the pace of enhancing the infrastructure and service around six essential elements of tourism – dining, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment and building cultural and service centers, luxury hotels, railway stations, commercial streets and auditoriums with a total investment of 250 million yuan.

Its 18 restrooms were rebuilt to meet start-rating standards and other projects will be completed by 2013.