"This place is amazing—more beautiful than in posters or movies!" said a young man from Moscow, Russia, feeling refreshed as he gazed at the extraordinary scenery of Zhangjiajie. On July 27, he successfully proposed to his girlfriend at the scenic spot and won her heart.

In the first half of this year, Zhangjiajie recorded 699,200 inbound tourist visits, up 23.66% year on year. Its foreign exchange earnings from tourism reached 79.4128 million USD, up 31.69%.

Inbound tourism is not the only vibrant sector. Recently, the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism released data on key monitored scenic areas for the first half of the year. Data showed that the 937 monitored scenic spots across the province received 244 million tourist visits, up 3.91% year on year.

Behind this growth lies a trendier upgrade and a more international image of Hunan's cultural tourism.

New Projects Bring New Experiences

"Mom, I saw a real fairy!" Recently, netizen "Xiao Leng" was extremely excited to encounter Zhang Huiwen, a star who participated in Mango TV's reality show "Sisters Who Make Waves," experiencing the "Flying Fairy" project at Changsha Tongguan Kiln China-chic Theme Park. Subsequently, Zhang's flying video went viral across major social platforms. Netizens jokingly said that Huiwen has been flying in my phone for days.

"Flying Fairy" is an amusement facility introduced by Tongguan Kiln China-chic Theme Park last year and has now become a hit at the park. According to project manager Zhang Ting, over 100 people come to try it each day during holidays. "We have six stores nationwide, and the one in Changsha is the most successful, consistently ranking among the top in popularity."

In June, Bixiangchu Alley in Changsha started operation, with more than half of the settled brands being exclusive debut stores. The market performance on the opening day was impressive—60,000 visits and the first-day sales of OLA's debut store in Central China exceeding one million CNY. Since the opening of the debut outlet of a Chengdu-based late-night bar brand in Hunan, it has ranked first in sales among Changsha's bars on the Dianping app. Equally impressive is what lies just across the street on the Xiangjiang River waterway, where the new energy luxury cruise ship Juzhou received 32,948 tourist rides in the first half of the year, driving a 73.2% year-on-year increase in the total passenger volume of cruises on the Xiangjiang River.

New projects have been rolled out across the province. During the 6th Hunan Tourism Development Conference this May, the host city, Xiangtan, officially opened the new attraction Sahuan -Yangmeizhou. Centering on an urban pastoral theme, the attraction offered diverse experiences such as waterfront recreation, flower-field camping, and all-age amusement activities, creating a one-stop leisure and vacation destination on the outskirts of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan metropolitan area. The Furongguoli RV (recreational vehicle) Villa Hotel opened at the Wanlou Scenic Area, boosting tourist footfall by 81%.

Zhangjiajie's Dayong Ancient Town reopened on July 10, enriching Zhangjiajie's urban tourism offerings with a youthful vibe and new experiences.

"Greater Zhangjiajie" Accelerates Internationalization

The couple mentioned above are just two of the many Russian tourists in Zhangjiajie. Zhangjiajie China Travel Service alone has received 5,000 Russian tourist visits this year. Hunan Star Tours International Travel Service saw inbound tourist numbers rise by over 40% year on year in the first half of the year. Zhangjiajie boasts unparalleled natural resources, the government has ramped up international promotion, and word-of-mouth from tourists—all contributed to the surge in Zhangjiajie's inbound tourism, said Ding Shibiao, deputy general manager of Hunan Star Tours International Travel Service.

Deng Daoli, director of the Publicity Office of the Publicity Department of the CPC Wulingyuan District Committee, said that more and more foreign travelers see Zhangjiajie not only as a travel destination but also as a place for physical and mental healing. "Many foreign travelers come here to practice yoga, and some even visit traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics to experience TCM." 

Zhangjiajie is becoming increasingly trendy, said Tian Hongman, member of the Party Working Committee and deputy director of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Television and Sports. The new Zhangjiajie cultural tourism map "Summit," developed in cooperation with the international game Valorant, was released globally on June 21. By early July, the map had received more than 2.6 billion views and over 36.9 million interactions. Currently, it has two million players daily, 35% of whom are from overseas. The scenic area also collaborated with well-known brands such as CHAGEE to develop products such as figurines, coffee, milk tea, and Tujia brocade items, which have proven highly popular with consumers.

Hunan released the Action Plan for the Construction of the Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area at the beginning of this year, packaging 38 counties, county-level cities, and districts from four cities and one prefecture, to fully energize Hunan's inbound tourism. On July 23, the "Greater Zhangjiajie" brand logo, slogan, promotional video, and the first batch of eight inbound tourist routes were unveiled, making "Greater Zhangjiajie" an increasingly international face.

Furong Town, which is internationally popular, has been propelled to a higher level under the "Greater Zhangjiajie" strategy. As of June 30, the scenic spot received 1.48 million ticket-holding visits, including over 400,000 visits made by foreign travelers, compared to 338,000 inbound tourist visits for all of last year. In just half a year, Furong Town Scenic Spot has already reached last year's full-year target in inbound tourism. "I have never seen so many foreigners in one scenic spot. It is truly Furong Town of the world!" exclaimed a netizen. "Foreign tourists have been coming in large numbers this year," even the staff at the scenic spot were surprised.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.
 
Translator: Pang Yuehui
 
Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn