2023 Lucheng-Dongtou-Yueqing Cultural Tourism Week kicks off in Hangzhou

On March 18th, the 2023 Lucheng-Dongtou-Yueqing (Hangzhou) Cultural Tourism Week, themed“Warm Spring Tour of Zhejiang and Serene Mountains and Sea of Wenzhou” was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The event showcased the rich cultural tourism resources and unique humanistic charm of the three places and jointly released preferential policies to further enhance the brand image of Wenzhou's one-for-all tourism.

Lucheng, Dongtou, and Yueqing are all located near the Oujiang River. With their unique cultural tourism resources, they have complemented each other and enhanced their cooperation in the cultural and tourism industries. At the event, the promotional guests introduced the key scenic spots, delicious food, intangible cultural heritages, handicraft skills, and unique B&Bs from the three places, weaving together a story of tradition and modernity, classics and national trends.

The exhibition is divided into different areas, including an area of stalls, an exhibition and experience area of intangible cultural heritages, a food area, an area of internet-famous scenic spots, and a performance area. This provides a cultural tourism trading platform that is visible, audible, tangible, and experiential for local residents and tourists. Local specialty foods such as fish balls, duck tongues, and rice wines were brought to the event by Lucheng—a district with a colorful night scene and thousands of scenic poems from ancient times, while Dongtou presented sea-related creative products such as Donghai shell carvings, tea sets made of sea pottery, and fishermen paintings for Hangzhou citizens and tourists. Yueqing showcased traditional handicrafts like Yueqing boxwood carving, China indigo printing, and wheat cake making at the event, inviting Hangzhou citizens to appreciate the beauty of the mountains and seas. In addition, there was a quiz about mountain and sea cultural tourism, which added fun and excitement to the event. It also provided interactive guests with practical and creative gifts with distinctive Wenzhou features. The special performance from the three places presented a visual feast for the guests on-site.

Wenzhou has a long history and rich culture. It does not only develop the market economy rapidly but also boasts picturesque landscapes and unique Ou-Yue culture. Thus, it is a desirable destination for leisure and vacation. In order to further promote the recovery of the Wenzhou tourism market and attract more tourists and groups to visit Wenzhou, the districts of Lucheng, Dongtou, and Yueqing have jointly released preferential policies. Lucheng will reward travel agencies that organize tourist groups out of town to visit Wenzhou, encouraging them to actively develop two-day or longer travel routes. Dongtou encourages the opening of special trains and the organization of large tourist groups from other cities and provides corresponding rewards to individual travelers, temporary tour groups, tour groups organized within one week, or those outside of Wenzhou who participate in local tours. From March 18 to April 30, 2023, Hangzhou residents are granted free admission to Dongtou’s three major state-owned scenic areas: Wanghai Tower, Banping Mountain, and Xiandie Rock (Dasha‘ao). Yueqing invites people in Hangzhou to visit Middle Yandang Mountain Scenic Area for free before April 30, 2023, and offers a 40% discount off the regular price for advance bookings of Yueqing homestays before May 31, 2023 (holidays and weekends excluded).

In recent years, Wenzhou has actively responded to the decision and deployment of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government to build“an all-for one scenic area and a large provincial garden”. It has always regarded all-for-one tourism as an important lever to accelerate the high-quality transformation and development of the regional economy and has focused on promoting the“micro-transformation and refinement” of the tourism industry by using culture to boost tourism and tourism to advocate culture so as to deepen the integration and development of culture and tourism. The official of Wenzhou Culture, Broadcasting, Television and Tourism Bureau hopes, with this opportunity, Wenzhou could further strengthen the cultural tourism exchanges and cooperation with Hangzhou, promote mutually beneficial and win-win development of cultural tourism industries in both places, explore the establishment of a long-term cooperation mechanism, and open up a new journey of cultural tourism exchanges. (ZhongXin)