The photogenic Shuiduikeng Village.

Tourists in Kucun Village, Nanpuxi Town, Taishun County.

To steadily enhance the quality of culture and tourism industry, the 2023 Zhejiang training class of cultural and tourism resources development was held in Wenzhou recently. Representatives from Zhejiang’s cultural and tourism system and scenic resorts, as well as the key tourist cultivation targets from 26 mountainous counties in the province, convened to exchange their views on tourism project investment, micro transformation and fine upgrading, quality tourism development in the 26 mountainous counties and high-grade development of service industry etc.

With the ultimate goal of effectively enhancing the sense of access and happiness of the masses and tourists, Wenzhou has embarked on the journey of deepening the integration of culture and tourism in recent years. It has beefed up efforts to solicit more cooperation, implement more projects and launch such cultural tourism IPs as “Qiaojiale B&B”, “Qingdeng Bazaar”, “Nanxi River Music Festival” and “Shangen Music and Art Village”. Hopefully, it will help materialize the value of ecological products in 26 mountainous counties, enrich the people and and achieve common prosperity.

Paint a new picture of common prosperity in 26 mountainous counties

Paragliding to overlook the beautiful fields, sliding down the chute in the Mine Pit, strolling on the Piano Bridge, bathing in the warm and refreshing radon spring... Such diverse businesses encompassing the water, land and air, along with the B&Bs accompanied by the moon and breeze and stunning intangible cultural heritage(ICH) experiences, are the highlights of Taishun’s tourism. The boutique travel route in Taishun has now become a cultural tourism IP in southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian, appealing to tourists from far and near.

The past five years have seen Taishun’s endeavor in advancing the all-for-one tourism. Altogether, more than 30 cultural tourism projects were signed and landed, with a total investment of over 30 billion yuan and an actual investment of nearly 15 billion yuan, including a number of major tourism projects such as the East China Grand Canyon and the Mine Pit and Ice Castle. Driven by the major projects, Taishun boldly pressed ahead with the all-for-one tourism and forged the first national tourism resort in southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian, namely, Taishun Lounge Bridge - Radon Spring Tourism Resort. All the towns in the county were turned into scenic towns and some infrastructure were installed such as the Xiaosongpo 4C-level self-drive camp. Meanwhile, the county fostered an array of characteristic net-famous tourist destinations such as “Twilight City”, invited in such famous hotels as the Grand New Century Resort and enriched its night tour products such as beer and barbecue festival.

For the cultural tourism to go further, Taishun has fully tapped into its resource endowment, including the lounge bridge culture, ICH culture, She ethnic culture, red culture and its unique “Shun culture”(here “Shun” derived from the name Taishun also signifies good luck in Chinese). It pioneered the “ICH takeaway” mode so that regional ICH empowers the all-for-one tourism on a regular basis. It crafted some performing arts products, including the large live-action drama “I’m Waiting for You at the Roofed Lounge Bridge” and the small live-action drama “Butterfly - Encounter”, to bring immersive cultural tourism experience. It launched the “Shun Gift” series of cultural tourism products, such as “Shun honey”, “Shun drinks”, “Shun tea” and “Shun alcohol”. Besides, a train of special cultural tourism events were organized, for example, the “Hundred Families Banquet”, “March 3” She Ethnic Tourism Festival, the Roofed Lounge Bridge Cultural Tourism Festival and the ICH Cultural Tourism Festival. New activities are rolled out each year for the sake of better tourist gratification, and tourists may enjoy different experiences every month.

Meanwhile, Taishun has also optimized the spatial layout and product structure of rural tourism, improved the quality of rural tourism products, and achieved the differentiation, branding and cluster development of rural tourism, thus delivering tangible income to local people. For instance, relying on the Yunlan Pasture project, Liufeng Township innovated the “enterprise and farming integration” mode, which increased the operating revenue of the village collective by 10 folds, and was named the best practice case of common wealth in Zhejiang. Another case is Cunwei Village. By asking Hangzhou Cunyougo Group to operate the entire village, the village collective raised its annual income by 500,000 yuan, claiming the honor of the best practice case of cultural tourism promoting common wealth in Zhejiang.

The leapfrog development of the mountainous county of Taishun is a microcosm of how Wenzhou’s cultural tourism facilitates common prosperity. Other counties on the land of Wenzhou are also painting a new picture of common wealth. Yongjia combined music and tourism to build a multi-dimensional music industry system, so that the local culture and traditional products are blended into art and the fashion industry. Pingyang opened a new pattern of integrated development of culture, sports and tourism, so as to attract tourists by “cultural tourism+” and stimulate the vigor by “sports+”. Wencheng expedited the construction of major cultural tourism projects and related infrastructure of the ring of Tianding Lake, Liu Bowen’s Hometown and Tongling Mountain sector. Cangnan accelerated its pace in developing new sights along the 168-kilometer Golden Coastline and tailored the “168-kilometer Gold Coastline Tourism Products and Routes”.

Contrive the all-for-one scenic diversification

When you enter Ouhai District, you will be overwhelmed by a scroll of picturesque scenery. New landmarks of cultural tourism are springing up, such as Shangen Music and Art Village and Qingdeng Bazaar, where the charm of water life and literary arts are interwoven to present the desired land of “poems and dreams”. Village museums are the “cultural codes” that bear nostalgic memories, and such village museums as Tanghe Museum Group, Zeya Paper-making Museum and Longxi Art Museum have gone viral lately.

Recent years have also witnessed Ouhai’s triumph in shaping a provincial all-area tourism demonstration zone and a 4A-level scenic district. The district has fostered a string of cultural brands with its characteristics, such as the “Millennial Ancient Tanghe River”, “Millennial Daluo Mountain” and “Millennial Paper Mountain”. By dint of its beautiful landscape and distinctive regional culture, Ouhai molds its tourism through culture and disseminates its culture through tourism. Village museums run by the people receive government subsidies, and such an operation mode proves to be a success that gilds village museums. In 2022, the Dongjing Paper Culture and Art Museum, “Yuan” Art Museum and Boshan Art Museum were opened one after another, and all the five museums in the Tanghe Private Museum Group were put into operation.

Ouhai is also excavating new businesses to elevate its tourism quality. It is carrying forward the projects of Wutian Old Street, Wenzhou Amusement Park Phase III, Yuntianlou Yunyue Hotel, Renaissance Hotel and Sports Center Hotel, and revitalizing diverse businesses of cultural tourism via “micro transformation and fine upgrading”. For example, Shuiduikeng Village has introduced cultural tourism enterprises such as JUNLAN, ANQUI and LANLI, landed more than 30 cooperative projects and created a batch of core projects such as Shuiduikeng MOJ Café and Lanli Paper Mountain Art School, producing an annual operating income of nearly 1.5 million yuan for the village collective.

Empowered by cultural tourism that features ICH, ancient villages, coffee, B&B, food, cultural and creative products, the vast countryside in Ouhai is undergoing drastic changes toward prosperity. On top of that, the local authority initiated the plan of “Lighting up the Countryside by Art”. Schools and the local community cooperatively established the first folk orchestra, and the first rural art group practice became a model in Zhejiang. The construction of emerging cultural landmarks like the Ouhai Southern New Area Cultural Center and multi-functional concert hall gathered momentum, and some spare space was transformed into new space for public culture that offers premium services.

In addition, in line with the digital reform, Ouhai has invented some digital smart cultural tourism applications with local characteristics and user-friendliness. “Staggered Fun Trip” was selected as one of the 18 reference cases of smart tourism announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and is online in “Zheliban” app. It is connected to the ticketing system data or operator signaling data of 12 scenic spots in Ouhai District, and provides 4 special highlight scenarios including “guide map for staggered trip”, “booking and queuing up for entertainment projects”, “parking sharing” and “intelligent monitoring”. As a result, tourists may save themselves trouble and resources in scenic areas are optimally allocated.