Enyang eyes boosting cultural tourism

Enyang district in Bazhong city, Southwest China's Sichuan province unveiled a list of cultural projects and tourist destinations to help Bazhong build itself into a national demonstration city of all-for-one tourism.

The list of signature tourist products includes the “Legend of Enyang”, a large-scale situational night tour, Enyang Shidawan, a feast of 10 typical local courses, Huajiantang, a boutique Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast homestay, an Enyang specialty store and some sightseeing spots in the district.

These projects are only examples of Enyang’s efforts to realize its goal of promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism. The district has also taken innovative measures to speed up developing the cultural tourism and health care sector.

The “Legend of Enyang” gives these projects an edge. It was signed to settle in the district on Dec 22, 2020. As the first large outdoor night show tour in Sichuan, it features eight presentations that tell about the past and present of the Micang Ancient Road and the ancient town and demonstrate the local people’s humanistic spirit.

The show made its debut on April 29. Yang Bo, Party chief of Enyang, said the district hopes to take the seven projects as an opportunity to further boost its cultural tourism with the support of local government and enterprises.

It took about only five months to put the show on stage from an agreement thanks to coordination between various sectors and the joint efforts of all walks of life in the district.

The top priority for Enyang is to build a tourism brand, and cultivate and improve its travel products based on its own advantages, according to Yang.

He added that the competitive tourist resources in the district are in the Enyang Ancient Town and the Micang Ancient Road.

Early in March and April, the district government held meetings and seminars for overall planning and to deliberate on measures for achieving the goals.

The district will built more infrastructural projects to link the transportation network to tourist destinations and improve commercial and public service facilities such as hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, toilets and parking spaces while avoiding damage to the local ecology and environment.

Though Enyang boasts essential elements for developing cultural tourism, such as convenient transportation, high-quality tourist resources and rich historical and cultural heritages, the district had not experienced a boom in the industry.

In recent years, Enyang has produced many literary and artistic works such as Guayin Zhixian, Huangjingshu and Bahe Chunqiu after sorting out reference materials and historical records and collecting revolutionary stories. It has also hosted large cultural activities regularly to enrich local people’s travel experience.

In addition, a group of cultural events such as fruit-picking and agricultural harvest festivals, an international dragon boat race and temple fairs have been developed into signature draws for local tourism.

“Enyang is gaining a bigger reputation and we can have fun in travelling to more places in the district and enjoy a more colorful life,” said a resident of the ancient town.