Cities close to picturesque Mt Huangshan eye tourism and investment

Ti Gong

Huangshan, Chizhou, Xuancheng, and An'qing, the cities surrounding Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province, announced several MICE tourism incentives and projects seeking business investment in Shanghai on Thursday, coinciding with the launch of the much-anticipated G8388 high-speed train and the start of summer vacation.

The four cities form the greater Huangshan area, which covers 4.4 square kilometers and includes 90 4A-level and above scenic places like Mount Huangshan, Mount Jiuhuashan, and Mount Tianzhushan, with Shanghai serving as the region's primary MICE tourist source market.

According to the blueprint, the regional GDP of the area should be 1.4 trillion yuan by 2033, twice that of 2023, with tourism revenue exceeding 79 million yuan (US$10.8 million), up 280 percent from 2023.

This summer, students who have taken China's high school and college entrance exams this year can enjoy free admission to attractions such as Mount Jiuhuashan, Mount Tianzhushan, Emerald Valley, and Longchuan Scenic Area.

Ti Gong

Travel operators with a set target will be rewarded with incentives.

Also, a number of projects seeking investments were unveiled. These include a sports games base along Taiping Lake in Huangshan District, Huangshan City, and a Yangtze River Delta biodiversity exhibition and experience base in Qimen County, Huangshan City.

The sports base, which will need an investment of 1.95 billion yuan, will include a water sports center, a leisure town, and luxury hotels, while the biodiversity exhibition and experience base, worth 1.5 billion yuan, will feature a botanical garden, an ecological experience park, and a digital technology pavilion.

Ti Gong

The G8388 high-speed train departed Shanghai Railway Station on Saturday, kicking off a new eight-hour picturesque loop across the Yangtze River Delta.

It travels almost 1,200 kilometers from Shanghai Railway Station to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, stopping at 19 different destinations along the way.

Passengers are mostly traveling to Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, and the picturesque sites of Mount Huangshan and Mount Jiuhuashan.

Ti Gong