Guiyang opens arms to foreign tourists

By Han Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-09-03 10:46

A senior official from Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province Friday lured foreign tourists with agreeable natural conditions, beautiful sceneries and rich ethnic culture.

"To most tourists, especially foreign tourists, Guiyang is remote and mountainous," Jiang Xingheng, the publicity chief of the city's CPC Party committee told journalists, most of who are foreigners, from major domestic news institutions.

"But I'd like to tell them Guiyang is a city which combines both tradition and modern development. It is an ideal place for making a living, for starting businesses and for having an enjoyable tour," Jiang added.

Located at 26 degrees north latitude and at an altitude of 1,000 m above sea level, its weather is not too cold in winter, nor too hot in summer. The city is especially a good place to escape the summer heat and that is why it is labelled as "Cool Guiyang" and topped China's Best Summer Resort list by national and international environment groups.

In addition to favorable weather conditions, rich ethnic cultures and beautiful natural scenery are two other major attractions, Jiang said.

Ethnic groups such as the Miao, Dong, Buyi and Tujia have been living in Guiyang and Guizhou for thousands of years, creating cultures with characteristics unique to the area. In some villages in the suburbs of the city, mills producing paper and wax prints with ancient techniques can still be found. Folk songs and dancing can be widely seen during festivals.

The city's natural landscape, including virgin forests, clear lakes and rivers, and mysterious karst caves are also attractive to tourists. Its well-preserved ecology makes Guiyang a top city in China for air and water quality. It has been honored by the State Forestry Bureau as an excellent city for forest cover.

Tourism is now a pillar of local economy. The city received 23.25 million tourists from home and abroad last year, an increase of 26.03 percent over 2006 as tourism income grew by 41.94 percent to reach 12 billion yuan.