In recent years, a new pattern of deep integrated development between transportation and tourism has gradually taken shape, and waterway tourism has become a new consumption hotspot. 

 

Duan Yuxin, director of the Water Transport Affairs Center of Chenzhou City, said that Chenzhou has strengthened the construction of water navigation and accelerated the renovation of convenient docks. It has launched the Dongjiang Lake Waterway Tourism Passenger Transport Route and the Cuijiang River Waterway Tourism Passenger Transport Route, allowing tourists to view the natural scenery from a different perspective.

 

The Bianjiang River belongs to the middle section of the Leishui River, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River. It connects the Dongjiang River and the Leishui River, with a total length of about 50 kilometers and an average width of about 100 meters. It was the most convenient water transportation route from the Central Plains to Lingnan in ancient times.

 

The Bianjiang River is also a cultural river, where ancient sages have left a large number of cultural treasures and literature works. Han Yu, one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, visited Chenzhou six times in his life and left a giant stone inscription on the north bank of the Bianjiang River in Yongxing County. This is also the first Han Yu’s handwriting discovered in Hunan. It was listed as a key national cultural relic protection unit in 2013.

 

“The name ‘Changli’ for the new energy tourism passenger ships is to further explore the cultural heritage along the Bianjiang River, accelerate the construction of high-quality tourism routes, and create a high-quality leisure and health ecological tourism area in the southern Hunan,” said Zhang Xu, director of the Publicity Department of Yongxing County.

 

The two “Changli” ships are purely electrically propelled by lithium battery, with a length of 28 meters and a width of 6.5 meters. Each ship carries 99 passengers at a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour. It takes about 90 minutes from the Longhua Mountain Wharf to the Yixiantian Scenic Area, with Danxia landscapes on both sides, and famous scenic spots such as Shilangtan, Xiangshan, and Anling Academy.

 

The Dongjiang Lake in Zixing City, with a water area of 160 square kilometers, is a national 5A-level scenic spot. In 2022, the Dongjiang Lake waterway tourism passenger route was listed among the first 50 boutique pilot routes in China announced by the Ministry of Transport.

 

The Dongjiang Lake route highlights the beautiful natural scenery and the climate landscape of “Mist-enveloped Dongjiang Lake”. It’s an innovative pilot project for new energy ships and tries to create a high-quality natural landscape route. In the past two years, the Dongjiang Lake route has received an average of over 650,000 passengers per year. Dongjiang Lake is the water area with the highest traffic density and the highest number of tourists in Hunan.

 

In order to better create waterfront tourism destinations, the Department of Transport of Hunan Province announced the first batch of 10 provincial waterway passenger transport boutique routes in 2024. And the Cuijiang Waterway Tourism Passenger Transport Boutique Route made the list. The route is from Cuijiang Port to Wayaoping Port in Suxian District of Chenzhou City, with a total length of 6.5 kilometers. It connects 6 ports, 8 scenic spots, and 3 villages, achieving a new model of “waterway plus land” circulation in Feitian Mountain Scenic Area. 

 

An official of the cultural and tourism department of Chenzhou said that this route, integrating Danxia landform, a thousand-year-old dock, and folk customs, will help the Xiangnan folk characteristics centered on ceramic culture and ancient ferry culture, to become more popular.

 

Chenzhou has abundant rainfall and developed water systems, involving the Xiangjiang River, the Pearl River and Ganjiang River. On the premise of protecting water bodies, the local authorities have made efforts to develop ecotourism and all-for-one tourism so as to promote the deep integration of agriculture, culture, and tourism.

 

Taking the Cuijiang River route as an example, the Wayaoping Ancient Ferry Terminal has attracted more than 60 merchants, with an average daily reception of 6,000 tourists and more than 1,000 new job opportunities created. 

 

Liao Min, deputy general manager of Hunan Chenshan Chenshui Tourism Investment and Development Company, said that there are currently 7 ships with 332 seats, and 2 more ships will be added to meet the growing demand.

 

At the same time, the Cuijiang River route has integrated with the Feitian Mountain scenic area, and in August 2024, the bamboo raft route of Jiulong Water Village was created, allowing tourists to immerse themselves in the river scenery on bamboo rafts and driving a significant increase in tourist reception.

 

In a national poll for 50 pilot boutique routes conducted by the Ministry of Transport in 2024, the passenger satisfaction index of Dongjiang Lake route ranked first. The Provincial Water Transport Affairs Center has proposed to promote the experience of upgrading Dongjiang Lake based on the high-quality waterway route to scenic areas such as Shuifu Temple and Jiuxian Lake in the province, in order to promote the 

further development of tourism products and improve the quality of tourism.

 

 

Chinese source: hunantoday