△ This is the 479th China MosaicA few days ago, I met an international tourist and asked him why he chose Guiyang as his first destination in China. He answered that he had seen on YouTube the appealing natural scenery of the city, especially all the fantastic beasts and plants in Mountain Qianling. Seeing them living in harmony with people has left him a warm impression. “I want to bring my kids to see the naughty monkeys in particular,” he laughed.![]()
Monkeys in the Qianling Moutains 「Source: Internet」
Indeed, in recent years, Guiyang has sought development by pursuing harmony between humanity and nature. Through continuous exploration and practices, it has integrated ecological conservation with industrial development, which gives its people a better sense of belonging and happiness, while boasting achievements in ecological improvement as well as economic and social development.Upholding ecological development, Guiyang has gradually formed a new development pattern of green industries that features ecology + culture + tourism, while constantly improving its environment.![]()
Taoyuan River Rafting「Source: Guizhou Tourism Industry Development Group」Guiyang is known for its stunning natural scenery. Located at N26 degrees in latitude, with an average altitude of 1,100 meters, Guiyang boasts beautiful hills and lush mountains, which have earned it the name of “the city to spend the summer” and “the city of forests.” After years of improvement and protection efforts, Guiyang is now home to 3,657 wild species including the common kestrel and the Eurasian coot. With the building of 1,025 forest parks and mountain parks, the matrix of a mountain-water-forest-city has gradually formed. According to statistics, from January to July 2024, more than 100 million visits have been made to Gui’an in Guiyang, while travel bookings during the summer increased by 174% year on year.![]()
Guanshanhu Park「Source: Xinhua」As for the cultural aspect, one can find the influential “Yangmingism” was cradled in Guiyang. Five centennials ago, Wang Shouren (Wang Yangming), a Ming-Dynasty philosopher concreted his thinking in Longchang, Guiyang. The Yangmingism, with its inseparable relations with the unique natural environment in Guiyang, has also been influencing the city’s temperament for centuries. For years, Guiyang has been acting dauntlessly to pursue a high-quality development model that features green and low-carbon, which is in line with the “integration of cognition and practice” upheld by Yangmingism.![]()
The Memorial Temple of Wang Wencheng「Source: gzstv.com」That thinking is also reflected in how Guiyang developed its tourism. If you travel in Guiyang, you will experience this: Waking up in Chinese-style hotels with black tiles and white walls, walking out you will see the bustling market, where you can smell the rich aroma of tasty cuisines like the sour fish soup and tofu balls; if you do a little “Citywalk” there, soothing melodies may catch your attention, which can be hot “road concerts”.![]()
Guiyang Road Concert 「Source: China News」Recently, China released a document on accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, in which it proposes that green transformation should be achieved across all sectors and regions; it also highlights the deep integration of culture and tourism, via encouraging faster development of new industries and business models that feature green and low-carbon. Guiyang is just a pioneer on this path, developing cultural industry and tourism among other realms, guided by ecological conservation. It is also such a philosophy that ensures tourists physical and spiritual happiness, breath-taking scenery and tasty gourmet foods, quality shopping and quality traveling. With its natural endowments and through conscientious efforts, Guiyang has turned its natural advantages into development strengths; the city’s development history serves as a vivid presentation of how to translate lush mountains and lucid waters into invaluable assets, and how to pursue harmony between a well-conserved ecological environment and high-quality economic development, as well as harmony between humanity and nature.
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