As the “South Gate” of Hunan opening to the south and the “bridgehead” of the central region connecting with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, Beihu District of Chenzhou City is deeply integrated into the economic development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), especially in the cultural and tourism market.

In recent years, Beihu District has given full play to its role of the main urban area, the main passageway and the main market, and made every effort to build a new landmark of cultural tourism in the first station from the GBA into Hunan. 

In September this year, Beihu District established and operated the reception service center of the first station from the GBA into Hunan in Chenzhou, and it will also open the first low-altitude cultural tourism air route in Chenzhou.

Create characteristic cultural tourism attractions

First, enhance the reputation of the alpine grassland in the name of “love”. Yangtian Lake Grassland, as the southernmost alpine grassland in China, is the first choice for tourists from the GBA to relax and enjoy coolness in summer. Through three years of efforts, Shenzhen Jinzhan Group introduced from the GBA successfully created a national 4A scenic area, which won such honors as Hunan’s first “National 5C Self-drive RV Camp”.

In order to further spread the grassland’s fame, a promotional activity themed “Riding horses at the grassland with an altitude of 1,314 meters” was launched, which greatly attracted the young people of the GBA. 

At the opening ceremony of the second Hunan Tourism Development Conference this year, the video of “Romantic Trip: Wedding Party at Yangtian Lake Grassland” was broadcast, endowing the grassland with some love elements, and Yangtian Lake has been rated as the “Most Popular Scenic Area of the Year in Guangdong Province”.

Second, revitalize the old village with a history of a thousand years. Xiaobu Ancient Village was established in 1423 AD. It is located 10 minutes from Beihu Airport and 15 minutes from Chenzhou West High-speed Railway Station.

In order to build the ancient village into a tourist destination for tourists from the GBA to experience the ancient village culture, Shenzhen Yuanhengjia Education Group was introduced to develop it, forming a Xiaobu area integrating the ancient village, science and education, study tours, and homestays. Xiaobu Village has been awarded the honors of a “National Civilized Village” and a “Beautiful Leisure Village in China”. 

This year, the “Xiaobu 1423 Farming and Reading Market” was built to provide tourists with a unique experience of Southern Hunan’s customs. “Home among Mountains and Rivers·Xiaobu” broadcast on CCTV1 and lasted as long as 42 minutes popularized this ancient village in Southern Hunan around the country.

Third, create fashion night scenes of streets. In order to boost the night economy, and cater to the needs of young people in the GBA, old streets, old scenic areas and old parks were revitalized, and new landmarks of “Beihu Ever-bright Night” and “Heping Night Market” were created through beautification, transformation, upgrading, and utilization, injecting the most fashionable elements into the main urban area of Chenzhou. 

“Beihu Ever-bright Night” was rated as a provincial tourism and leisure block, and “Heping Night Market” won the national street for mass food tourism.

Provide different services

The district issued several measures to benefit tourists from the GBA, and incentive policies for high-speed trains, bus fleets, self-drive fleets and tourism agencies to attract more tourists from the GBA.

Investigations on service quality and special trainings on tourism services were conducted to improve the service level of scenic areas and spots, catering and accommodation industry, transportation stations, study tour bases, homestays, agritainment and travel agencies.

At the same time, Cantonese tour guides and customized Cantonese cuisine were provided to enable the tourists from the GBA to feel the taste of home in Beihu. 

It also combined low-altitude cultural tourism air routes with quality improvement of scenic areas, and launched low-altitude tourism, aerial advertising, aviation rescue, etc. through the “flights plus tourism” model. A number of low-altitude cultural tourism air routes were planned to open, connecting major scenic areas such as Yangtian Lake, in a bid to further enrich service supply.

Beihu District brings together more than 80% of the city’s commercial complexes and 3/4 of the large hotels, integrating eating, living, sightseeing, traveling, entertainment, shopping and other tourism formats. 

To expand the markets of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the first tourist reception service center from the GBA into Hunan has been built, integrating the intelligent cultural tourism platform “Chenxin Tour”, which can recommend personalized boutique tourism routes for 1-5 days in Chenzhou. 

At the same time, it has successfully realized the interactive sharing of tourism resources information, and the cultural exchange and collision between Hunan and Guangdong.

At present, there are 3 national 4A scenic areas and 5 national 3A scenic areas in Beihu District. The latest data show that the number of tourists from the GBA to Beihu District has increased from less than 5% in 2019 to nearly 30% now. 

During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday this year, the main scenic spots and areas, the night cultural tourism consumption clusters and leisure blocks monitored received a total of 1,886,200 tourists, an increase of 326%. The total tourism revenue reached 460 million yuan, an increase of 291.25%. 

Next, Beihu District will make continuous efforts to create new landmarks of the first station from the GBA into Hunan, and take the lead in serving and integrating into the GBA.