Chenzhou City takes four seats among the top ten, with Gaoyi Ridge, Dongjiang Lake, Wuzhifeng, and Yangtian Lake Grassland ranking second, fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. As early as 2021, Chenzhou was awarded the “Most Popular Domestic Tourist Destination in the 2021 (China) Guangdong Tourism General Rating List”, making it the only award-winning city outside Guangdong Province.

 

There are three contributing factors behind this remarkable achievement.

 

 

First is the geographical advantage, as Chenzhou City is close to the GBA, which makes it the preferred destination.

 

Since April 1, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway has resumed its services. It only takes 2 hours and 23 minutes from Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station to Chenzhou West Railway Station.

 

On April 16, Chenzhou’s Cultural Tourism Investment Promotion was held in Chancheng District of Foshan City. 46 exhibition booths were set up to comprehensively showcase Chenzhou’s rich cultural tourism resources and profound historical heritage.

 

At this event, Chenzhou released 10 key cultural tourism investment projects and 5 high-quality tourism routes. A total of 25 projects were signed with the total investment of 10.7 billion yuan, including 10 projects signed on the site, with the total investment of 6.06 billion yuan. Chenzhou’s investment projects from the Greater Bay Area accounted for 90%. Over 200,000 Chenzhou people work in Foshan, who have invested 7 projects in Chenzhou, with the total investment of 9.656 billion yuan.

 

People have been impressed by the bountiful promotion activities launched by Chenzhou in the Greater Bay Area, which made Chenzhou attract a large number of potential tourists in the fiercely competitive cultural tourism market.

 

 

Secondly, Chenzhou’s popularity among tourists in the Greater Bay Area mainly depends on its wonderful scenic areas.

 

Let’s talk about the Gaoyi Ridge Tourist Area first. In the Cretaceous period 140 million years ago, Gaoyi Ridge was still a basin. Through hundreds of millions of years’ crustal movement, volcanic activities, lava eruption, cooling and solidification, weathering and erosion, the Danxia Landform, where the red rocks, green waters, and perilous villages and streams create a desirable landscape.

 

Dongjiang Lake, 28 kilometers away from Gaoyi Ridge, is the only tourist area in Hunan Province that possesses the titles of the national 5A-level tourist area, a national scenic spot, a national ecological tourism demonstration area, a national forest park, a national wetland park, and a national water conservancy scenic area. The vast lake runs through 13 islands and peninsulas with the area of 160 square kilometers, constituting a picture of great aesthetic appeal. 

 

Yangtian Lake Grassland, as the closest grassland to the Greater Bay Area, boasts the charming scenery distinct from northern grasslands. Some time ago, the recreational vehicle (tent) camp at the grassland was honored with the national 5C-level camp, becoming the first camp in our province rated the highest level.

 

Mangshan Mountain, located among the Wuling Mountains, covers a total area of 20,000 hectares. There are over 150 peaks over 1,000 meters high in the scenic area, with the highest peak, Mengkengshi, reaching 1,902 meters above sea level. 

 

In 2020, the scenic area erected facilities at altitudes of 1,400 to 1,600 meters, such as cableway, escalator, self-service climbing machine, and cliff sightseeing vertical elevator, creating an accessible tourist passage that allows people with limited mobility to climb the Wuzhi Peak without getting off their wheelchairs. In the same year, China Tourist Attraction Association and China Handicapped People Association awarded Wuzhi Peak Scenic Area the title of “the First Barrier-free Mountain Tourist Attraction in China” and “the First Barrier-free Mountain Scenic Spot in China” respectively.

 

 

The third reason why Chenzhou is so popular is its premium services. Chenzhou City launched the action of 2023 Tourism Service Quality Improvement Year to further improve the service quality in cultural tourism, strengthen the supervision, and build the “Chenxin Service” tourism service brand on March 22. Under this guidance, various counties and scenic areas in Chenzhou have completed the designated tasks with high quality, and launched many effective actions.

 

For example, the Yangtian Lake Grassland has set up the “Yangtian Lake Grassland Consumer Rights Protection Service Station” and the “Complaint Handling and Return Visit Record Book”. Three workers are dedicated to handling tourist complaints.

 

 

The second Hunan Tourism Development Conference is about to be held in Chenzhou, which will undoubtedly boost the vigorous development of Chenzhou’s cultural tourism with the Greater Bay Area as a key driver. 

 

In early May, Chenzhou also organized a cultural tourism event to attract more tourists from the Great Bay Area, during which more than 80 representatives from 56 Hong Kong travel agencies reached cooperation agreements with Chenzhou on cultural tourism.

 

The rankings of Chenzhou’s scenic areas demonstrate the great potential of Chenzhou’s cultural tourism. Next step, Chenzhou will seize more opportunities and develop its tourism worldwide.