Changzhi showcases tourism highlights at CIIE

With blockbuster video game Black Myth: Wukong igniting a new wave of tourism in north China's Shanxi Province, the city of Changzhi has unveiled its sites and routes at the 7th China International Import Expo.

Inspired by the classic novel "Journey to the West," the game features numerous real-life landmarks from the province. The game's highly realistic depiction of numerous ancient Chinese architectural structures has also made a stunning breakthrough.

Among them Changzhi boasts the Guanyin Hall, which contains more than 500 colorful sculptures, and Chongqing Temple.

The Guanyin Hall was established during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), and it has a history of more than 430 years.

It is one of the better-preserved ancient buildings in Changzhi, known as the "crown of suspended sculptures and a treasure of Ming Dynasty suspended sculptures." Looking up at the roof inside Guanyin Hall, one can see the gold-painted and colored clay sculptures and suspended sculptures, each with a different expression, vividly lifelike.

Some are strong and majestic, imposing in their presence; others are graceful and elegant, rich and luxurious; and the rest are peaceful and serene, calm and composed.

The statues of Guanyin Hall have retained their bright colors over the years due to the use of mineral pigments, and they possess extremely high artistic and historical value.

Guanyin Hall reflects the superb skill of the colored suspended sculpture art in the Shangdang region during the Ming Dynasty.

Chongqing Temple has a layout of a single courtyard. According to the inscriptions on the temple's steles, it was originally built in 1016 AD of the Song Dynasty. Chongqing Temple retains more than 200 Song and Ming Dynasty colored sculptures and the existing Thousand Buddha Hall is a remnant of the Song Dynasty.

Recently, the Culture and Tourism Department of Shanxi Province released "the Follow Wukong to Travel in Shanxi" theme routes, which connects seven tourist attractions in Changzhi City, including Tiantai Temple, Longmen Temple, Dayunyuan Temple, Yuanqi Temple, Chongqing Temple, Faxing Temple, and Guanyin Hall.

The Changzhi City Culture and Tourism Bureau also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China's global travel service provider Trip.com in Shanghai.

The two parties will jointly launch customized travel routes and online and offline joint promotion strategies ,significantly enhancing the influence of the Changzhi cultural and tourism brand.

The 7th CIIE has seen a significant increase in overseas visitors coming to China, with inbound tourism orders up by nearly 30 percent compared to the same period last year since the beginning of the event, according to Trip.com.