How to explore the win-win situation between ecological protection and cultural tourism development in Chenzhou? Kan Baoyong, deputy to the National People’s Congress and mayor of Chenzhou city, shared Chenzhou experiences with three keywords--protective development, characteristic development and collaborative development at two sessions. 

 

The transformation of the Yangtian Lake Grassland is a model of ecological restoration in Chenzhou. The largest alpine grassland in the south once had a grass coverage rate of 64% due to overgrazing and other reasons. Since 2019, Chenzhou has implemented measures such as grazing bans, travel bans, and vegetation restoration, and now the grass coverage rate has reached 95%.

 

Kan Baoyong introduced that after ecological restoration, strategic investors were introduced to build a 4A level scenic spot in the local area. By 2024, the Yangtian Lake Grassland received 763,000 tourists and generated income of 86.61 million yuan.

 

The city also integrated ecological resources with regional characteristics to create differentiated business formats. For example, Zixing city developed science popularization tour and waterfront vacation with Dongjiang Lake as the core. Chenzhou Water World has been selected as one of top 10 innovative venues for cultural tourism integration in 2024. 

 

“The key to transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets lies in finding the point where ecology can be combined with the market demand,” said Kan Baoyong. Chenzhou has created eight cultural tourism business cards, including Mangshan Mountain, Danxia Landscape, Red Tourism, Water Town, Hot Springs, Summer Escape, History and Nighttime Consumption. 

 

 

The transformation of Gaoyi Ridge confirms the synergistic effect of ecological governance and cultural tourism development. Gaoyi Ridge, which used to be a waste slag disposal site, has been transformed into a national 4A level scenic spot through source control and ecological restoration. It has also been selected as one of Hunan’s top 20 scenic spots favored by tourists in the GBA. 

 

In 2024, the city received brilliant results in the cultural and tourism industry. It received 76.535 million domestic and foreign tourists throughout the year, and generated a total tourism consumption of over 80.19 billion yuan. The total output value of the cultural tourism industry reached 110 billion yuan. 

 

It obtained two national level and 82 provincial cultural tourism brands, and it has 63 national A-level and above scenic spots. It has been rated as one of the most charming tourist destinations and China’s top 50 treasure cities. 

 

Building a world-class tourism destination is one of the important goals of Chenzhou. 2025 is the year for the development of inbound tourism in Hunan province, and Chenzhou will seize the opportunity to target the international market as a source of tourists. 

 

It has taken a series of measures to attract more domestic and foreign tourists, including jointly building a provincial tourism alliance with Changsha, Zhangjiajie and other cities, advertising in South Korea and the Southeast Asian countries. It has expanded its influence through such events as China Mineral and Gem Show (CMGS), “Lin Dan Cup” Badminton Open and Chenzhou International Marathon. Targeting the South Korean customers, it made a promotional video in Korean and set up a special office for the exploration of the South Korean market. Through these efforts, it attracted over 10,000 inbound group tourists.

 

To welcome international tourists, Chenzhou continues to improve its international service level. Beihu Airport is accelerating the application for an international temporary port, 238 external card POS machines are available in key cultural tourism venues, 157 bank branches support foreign currency exchanges, and multilingual signage and service personnel training are underway. 

 

In 2025, the city aims to attract over 100,000 inbound tourists. 

 

Chinese source: hunantoday