The second Hunan Tourism Development Conference will be held in Chenzhou from September 15 to 17. Among the top six popular Hunan attractions for tourists from the Greater Bay Area in 2023, there are 4 in Chenzhou.

 

 

Yangtian Lake Grassland is China’s southernmost alpine grassland. In 2022, “The Chinese Restaurant Season Ⅵ”, a variety show broadcast on Hunan TV, made it popular.

 

As a matter of fact, the Yangtian Lake Grassland suffered from grassland damage, land desertification, and soil erosion due to excessive development and grazing in the early years.

 

 

 

In 2020, Beihu District compiled the “Ecological Restoration and Management Plan of Yangtian Lake Grassland in Beihu District”, and implemented a series of actions such as ecological protection and restoration, and strengthening grassland law enforcement, in an effort to make the restoration of Yangtian Lake grassland more scientific and standardized.

 

Today, the water surface area of Yangtian Lake has increased from more than 20 mu (about 1.33 hectares) to nearly 70 mu (4.67 hectares), and the grassland coverage rate has increased from 64% to 91%. 

 

 

 

Since the beginning of this year, Yangtian Lake’s tourism revenue has reached 1.32 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65.7%. 

 

“The Hobbit Castle at the entrance of the scenic area is in the style of New Zealand, which is popular with tourists. It used to be a slope section formed by soil erosion. After cement reinforcement, we built several semicircular huts hidden in the mountain wall, creating a fairy tale world that everyone yearns for,” said Liu Huadong, deputy general manager of Yangtian Lake Scenic Area.

 

The popularity of the Yangtian Lake scenic area has also made the lives of the surrounding residents better. Relying on ready-made tourism resources, nearby residents have built summer leisure places such as Liaojiadong homestay inn, with an income of more than 10 million yuan and a catering income of more than 8 million yuan.

 

In addition, many residents have increased their income by working at the scenic spot, renting houses and horses, and selling agricultural products, with an annual per capita income of nearly 3,000 yuan.

 

 

Dongjiang Lake is a national 5A-level tourist area. 

 

In addition to its beautiful scenery, it is also the largest source of drinking water in Hunan Province and a strategic source of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration, affecting the lives of millions of urban and rural residents.

 

 

 

In the 1990s, Dongjiang Lake suffered from excessive water pollution many times. At that time, the residents of the lake area mainly made a living on mining, logging, fish farming, pig feeding and fruit planting, so a large amount of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater was discharged into Dongjiang Lake, resulting in eutrophication of local waters.

 

Residents along the banks complained bitterly. The ecosystem of the Dongjiang Lake Basin was faced with a huge crisis.

 

In recent years, Chenzhou has attached great importance to the economic and social development and changes of the Dongjiang Lake Basin, and has successively compiled the “Regulations on Water Environment Protection of Dongjiang Lake in Hunan Province” and “Dongjiang Lake Basin Water Environmental Protection Plan” to establish a long-term operation mechanism for environmental protection.

 

 

 

Dongjiang Lake has not only developed ecological agriculture represented by “fish, fruit, tea and picking”, but also made use of the cold water of Dongjiang Lake to make a strong data industry. 

 

With a total investment of 50 billion yuan, it has built Dongjianghu Big Data Industrial Park integrating data storage applications, service outsourcing, high-end intelligent manufacturing and other industrial chains.

 

Taking the second Hunan Tourism Development Conference as an opportunity, Chenzhou City has implemented many projects such as the construction of Dongjiang Lake North Visitor Center, the development of Huilong Mountain Scenic Area, and the comprehensive development of tourism in Dongjiang Bay this year.

 

 

Gaoyi Ridge Scenic Area is a rare Danxia landform in the south. It was once a medium-sized ash dam for the discharge of power plant tailings, which caused land damage, vegetation destruction and serious ecological degradation. 

 

 

 

In recent years, Chenzhou City has made every effort to carry out ecological governance, land greening and landscape restoration, as well as build a circular economy industrial park to utilize solid waste.

 

The Danxia landform of Gaoyi Ridge is non-renewable, and it is eroded by rainwater at a rate of 0.8 meters every 10,000 years, with fast surface greening and soil erosion. 

 

In order to solve this problem, Chenzhou City implemented geomorphological restoration, cover mulching, vegetation transplanting and other projects in Gaoyi Ridge.

 

The total control degree of soil erosion reached 99.84%, and the vegetation restoration rate of bare land reached 99.64%.

 

 

 

Relying on the unique Danxia landscape, Gaoyi Ridge has created tourism experience projects such as Cascade Waterfall Square, Chair Bridge, and Stonehenge, and has become an Internet-famous place for tourists.

 

Gaoyi Ridge Scenic Area completed six major quality improvement projects in only 5 months, including ecological landscapes, a tourist reception center and a large parking lot.

 

“So far this year, we have received 450,000 visitors, an increase of more than 200% compared to last year,” said Zhao Huchen, deputy general manager of Chenzhou Gaoyi Ridge Tourism Investment Co., Ltd.

 

In addition, the number of its clicks on Douyin exceeded 1.6 billion, and its ticket revenue and tourist number entered the top ten in the province during May Day this year.

 

In recent years, Chenzhou City has comprehensively promoted the high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry, created eight cultural tourism business cards, and launched five high-quality boutique tourism routes to enhance the integration of Red and green tourism, as well as culture and tourism.