During this year’s May Day holiday, Huaihua has earnestly carried forward the follow-up work of the 5th Hunan Tourism Development Conference. It launched five high-quality tourist routes, namely “Three Rivers and One Bay · Fireworks Tour”, “Mystic Xuefeng · Cloud Top Yaojia Village Tour”, “Most Beautiful Dong Villages · Dong and Miao Customs Tour”, “Blessed Land Leisure Tour · Wellness and Vacation Trip”, and “China’s Scholarly Mountain · Cultural Journey of Book Fragrance”. Meanwhile, over a hundred featured cultural and tourism activities were launched online simultaneously. All A-level scenic spots across the city waived the first-entry tickets. With an immersive experience of “treating guests like family members”, Huaihua has attracted tourists from all directions. The cultural and tourism market remains red-hot, and consumption vitality has been fully unleashed.
Night view of Yushuwan.
At the start of the holiday, Yushuwan Youth Square in Hecheng District became the most popular spot in the urban area, attracting nearly 50,000 visitors on the first day. The first Street Art Festival titled “Jianghu Magic Night · Unrivaled Yushuwan” grandly kicked off. Five stunning stunts including single bamboo drifting, water jet stunts, high-altitude slackline walking, aerial hoop performance and high-pole boat skills were staged in succession. The thrilling performances drew constant applause from the audience. Clowns wandered around to interact with visitors and give out gifts to spread joy. Diversified trendy entertainment scenarios catered to tourists of all age groups. Opposite the square, the ASEAN Durian Festival was held concurrently. Fresh durians such as Monthong and Musang King were opened and tasted on site, making the characteristic market extremely popular.
Children participate in fun activities at Jingping Ancient Village, Zhongfang County.
Distinctive activities in all counties and urban areas were presented with constant highlights of immersive experiences. Jingping Ancient Village in Zhongfang County launched interactive games such as blindfolded vegetable picking and fun duck catching. Coupled with preferential policies for sci-tech cultural and tourism venues, intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and traditional Chinese music performances, the ancient village with a thousand-year history allowed tourists to admire ancient architecture and savour cultural heritage.
Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town launched the Intangible Cultural Heritage Activity Week. Costume-themed script tours, intangible cultural heritage parades and heritage fairs integrated perfectly with Hongjiang merchant culture, hitting a passenger flow peak on the first day of the May Day holiday.
People watch folk performances at Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town.
Qianyang Ancient Town in Hongjiang City presented the immersive live show “Fireworks in Qianyang · Journey to the West Adventure”. Round-the-clock activities including pot-throwing challenges, Hanfu parades and night parties were held non-stop, along with check-in gifts for completing challenges. Many tourists spoke highly of the immersive experience. Anjiang Agricultural School Memorial Park held parent-child farming competitions such as rice transplanting and fish catching in rice fields. Gaomiao Ruins Museum launched DIY handicraft activities, offering new parent-child travel fun. Many parents praised, “The activities are fun and meaningful. Children get close to nature and experience farming while playing, gaining a lot from the trip.”
Knowledge test draws the attention of tourists at Qianyang Ancient Town.
Red tourism in Zhijiang has grown increasingly popular, with the daily reception volume of the Surrender Memorial Hall rising steadily. A tourist sighed, “Rain cannot stop my desire to come here. Bringing children to learn about this period of history is more important than anything else.” The immersive intangible cultural heritage grand show Millennium Zhijiang was continuously staged at Zhijiang Flying Tiger Customs Street. With light and shadow as the brush and intangible cultural heritage as the ink, it presented a time-travel cultural feast for tourists and citizens, turning this waterfront block into a new landmark for night-time cultural and tourism check-ins.
Immersive Intangible Cultural Heritage Show Millennium Zhijiang continues its run.
Xuefengshan Cableway launched the “Cloud Top Leisure Week”, where cloud-top bazaars, leisure camps and cloud-shaped check-in spots set off each other perfectly, allowing tourists to enjoy leisure and comfort amid the clouds.
Xuefengshan Cableway launches the “Cloud Top Leisure Week”.
The charming Miao and Dong customs in Xinhuang, Jingzhou and Tongdao are utterly intoxicating. The original ecological situational drama Kingdom of Daughters on the Ancient Silk Road staged at Yanjiao Dong Village in Jingzhou blends matriarchal culture with the scenery of Dong villages. Featured delicacies such as oil tea and glutinous rice cakes as well as folk custom experiences make tourists linger on. “It’s my first visit to Yanjiao Dong Village and I’m having a wonderful time. I even took a sedan chair, making up for the regret of not riding one on my wedding day. This immersive situational drama is really refreshing, and I will come again!” tourist Yang Xiaohong commented positively.
Longxing Lecture Temple in Yuanling County launched an immersive Tang-style Zen check-in tour. Activities including Tang-style entertainment, traditional Chinese culture lectures, singing bowl and guqin healing fully showcased the charm of traditional culture. Meanwhile, Yuanling Museum kicked off the Dragon Boat Intangible Cultural Heritage Teaching and Experience Season. Adopting an immersive model combining historical exhibition and on-site teaching, it enabled citizens and tourists to closely experience the unique charm of Yuanling’s dragon boat culture and embrace a new way of inheriting intangible cultural heritage.
Yuanling Museum kicks off the Dragon Boat Intangible Cultural Heritage Teaching and Experience Season.
On the evening of May 2, thousands of people gathered at Fushou Square in Mayang to watch the race of Zhang Xue Motorcycle Racing Team. The crowd cheered in excitement to celebrate the championship.
Halfway through the May Day holiday, major scenic spots and featured activities in Huaihua remain hugely popular with wonderful programmes. A full range of immersive experiences, intangible cultural heritage performances, fun interactions and cultural tourism preferential policies are continuously available, welcoming more tourists to come for check-ins and fully appreciate the landscape beauty, cultural charm and down-to-earth vitality of Huaihua.
(Translated by Yang Hong)