Baishuidong Scenic Area

After an 11-month closure for quality upgrading, the Baishuidong Scenic Area renovation project has recently been completed and it officially reopened to the public on September 4. The upgraded scenic area features revitalized natural landscapes and a more diverse range of cultural tourism offerings, ready to welcome visitors with a fresh new look.

Baishuidong Scenic Area is the first national 4A-level tourist attraction in Xinshao County. It is renowned for its serene canyons, cascading waterfalls and springs, and spectacular karst caves, making it a well-known destination for natural sightseeing and ecological wellness in central Hunan. The scenic area launched a comprehensive quality upgrade in October 2025, optimizing its tour routes and supporting facilities while creating a number of immersive experience projects.

Walking into Baishuidong, visitors are greeted by lush mountains and rushing streams. Following systematic renovations, tour routes have been optimized for a better travel experience, with well-maintained and unobstructed walking paths, standardized signage, and upgraded public service facilities. The scenic area conducts regular inspections and remediation of hazards for slopes, waterfronts, and cliff edges, reinforces protective facilities, and improves the emergency support system, achieving all-around improvements in accessibility, environmental sanitation, and safety protection.

Bailong Cave is one of the core highlights of the scenic area. Inside the cave, natural stalactites are stunningly beautiful when illuminated by colorful lights. As dynamic light and shadow flow across the stalactites, the ancient rock walls seem to transform into a living epic. The legend of the "Divine Dragon's Blessing" is vividly brought to life through modern sound and light technology, allowing visitors to experience the fusion of nature and technology as they move from scene to scene.

This upgrading initiative focuses on both internal and external enhancements, beautifying the scenic area's landscape while deeply exploring local resources. The century-old Baishui ancient courtyard has been preserved and restored in its original style, integrating traditional Chinese elegance, calligraphy and painting cultural creations, and local folk customs. The newly-built Sun Simiao Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Museum and Geological Science Museum showcase local wellness culture alongside the evolution of karst geology, establishing a new cultural tourism pattern that integrates natural sightseeing, cultural experiences, traditional Chinese medicine wellness, and geological science education.

The scenic area hosted the county's annual "Avenue of Village Stars" grand finals on the opening day. The area plans to launch regular folk cultural activities to continuously enrich tourism experiences.

"We benchmarked against the construction standards of the tourism development conference and carried out comprehensive quality upgrades in tour routes, landscape appearance, hardware facilities, service support, and safety assurance," said Qiu Xue, general manager of Operations of Baishuidong Scenic Area. He added that the next step is to strengthen safety management, environmental maintenance, quality service, and order maintenance. Through meticulous, attentive, and professional services, the scenic area aims to provide visitors with a safe and comfortable wellness experience, continuously enhancing its cultural tourism calling card and contributing to the city's tourism development conference.

Brand-new walkways, clean public restrooms, and visitor-friendly rest areas all reflect a visitor-centered development philosophy. The upgraded Baishuidong Scenic Area will further unleash vitality to boost the high-quality development of county-level cultural tourism.

Chinese source: hunantoday