Jiuhua Mountain: striding towards a "world-class tourist destination"

Ten years is the yardstick of time and the scale of development. The ten years since the 18th CPC National Congress have been the period when the comprehensive strength of Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area has improved the fastest, the urban and rural appearance has changed the most, and the people have the strongest sense of gain.

Along the way, the golden signs are witnesses: the World Geopark, the first batch of national health tourism demonstration bases, the top ten mountain scenic spot brands... Over the past ten years, Jiuhua Mountain's environmental reputation, tourist satisfaction, and branding impression have been continuously improved, and it is striding forward towards the goal of "world-class tourist destination".

"Not only for prayer, but also for leisure and sightseeing"

New business forms activate new momentum for tourism transformation

"The scenery here is so beautiful." Walking on the high-altitude plank road in Huatai Scenic Area, Liu Fu and his wife from Fuyang couldn't stop feeling emotional. The old couple are in their 60s and came to Jiuhua Mountain seven years ago. This time they came to pray for blessings, but they didn't expect Huatai to surprise them. "I heard that Huatai has a more beautiful spring. Next year, when the rhododendrons bloom in the mountains, we will come again." Liu Fu chatted with reporters, and the camera in his hand didn't stop for a moment.

"If you came to Huatai ten years ago, it might be difficult for you to enjoy such a beautiful scenery." Cao Bilong, head of the Huatai Cableway Branch of Jiuhua Mountain Tourism Development joint stock company, told reporters that the Huatai Scenic Spot is one of the ten scenic spots of Jiuhua Mountain, and it is also the core area of Jiuhua Mountain National Forest Park and World Geopark. It is known as the saying "Lingshan Jiuhua, beauty is in Huatai". But in the past, Huatai was not well known because of its difficult and dangerous journey, and few people set foot in it. In the past ten years, Huatai has continuously strengthened the expansion of the tourism market and product upgrades. From the initial tourist route of a walking trail to the current walking trail + high-altitude plank road, it has realized ring-line tourism, so that Huatai has gradually transformed from "being raised in a deep boudoir" to a stunning girl from all over the world. "The number of tourists in Huatai Scenic Area has increased by nearly 15 times since its opening, especially after the completion of the plank road in 2017, the number of tourists has increased significantly."

As a beautiful business card of Chizhou, the tourism industry of Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area has been upgraded in the past ten years. "This place not only has characteristics of homestays, but also can drink tea to pray for blessing and cultivate the mind, which is very suitable for friends to gather." Zhang Xiao, a tourist from Jiangsu, likes the lotus town full of artistic conception.

The Lotus Town project is a key tourism project built by Jiuhua Mountain. After 4 years of careful grinding and operation, the Lotus Town with a total investment of more than 2 billion yuan has begun to take shape. After the completion of the project, it will form a Jiuhua night tour product centered on Dawan Cultural Park, Lotus Town and Commercial Street, which integrates amusement shopping, so that tourists "want to come in", "can stay" and "still want to come", which greatly enriches the tourism format of Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area.

"Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area has comprehensively promoted the upgrading of the tourism industry and strived to promote high-quality economic and social development." Wu Jingang, full-time deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and deputy director of the Management Committee of Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area, said that the scenic area has successfully overcome the adverse effects of ticket price cuts, economic downturn, COVID-19 pandemic, and has introduced nearly 100 projects, such as fitness and wellness, ecological leisure, and characteristic homestays. Formats such as gradual development, Jiuhua Tourism's main board was listed, and Dawan Cultural Park became a provincial-level cultural industry base. The scenic spot was selected as the first batch of national health tourism demonstration bases and the World Geopark Catalog, and was listed in the top ten of the top 100 mountain-type scenic spot brands.

At the same time, Jiuhua Mountain also actively integrates into the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, promotes the coordinated development of regional tourism, implements the joint development measures of county and mountain tourism, actively connects the tourism output of the Yangtze River Delta, undertakes the radiation of economic development, and becomes the "Seven" series of tourism boutique destinations in the Yangtze River Delta region.

"'One mobile phone tour Jiuhua', the experience is better"

Enhance the "soft environment" and create "hard power"

During the interview, the reporter ran into a group of 9 tourists from Hefei, Chen Yu. He told the reporter that although he had been to Jiuhua Mountain a few years ago, this trip to Jiuhua Mountain was a new experience.

"As long as you have a mobile phone in hand, all aspects of food, accommodation and transportation will be solved." Chen Yu said that as long as the Guokang code is green, you can buy tickets in advance on the travel service platform, and you can also book homestays and restaurants. After arriving at the scenic spot, you can pass the gate in one second with your ID card. Through the intelligent guidance system of the scenic spot, they immediately check the weather, traffic flow and traffic counting of each scenic spot on their WeChat official account. Even the most worrying parking problem when going out, you can check the traffic information in advance and arrive at the parking lot through a smart guide. "Compared with before, although many changes are'small details' and'small problems', everything can be done for the sake of tourists, so the overall travel experience is very comfortable." Chen Yu said.

"In the past, manual labor could only sell 10 tickets a minute, but now the network system can sell 40 tickets. It used to be that tourists had to wait to buy tickets and check in during peak seasons. Now they can buy tickets with a click of a mobile phone, and they can pass through the gate in one second with a certificate." Yu Xuguang, director of the scenic spot ticket management office, told reporters that in recent years, the intelligent construction of the scenic spot has been continuously upgraded. At present, the "one mobile phone tour Jiuhua" tourism service platform has both "eat, live, travel, travel, purchase and entertainment" functions.

Self-service ticketing system, intelligent guidance system... This series of changes experienced by tourists is the result of the construction of Smart Jiuhua Mountain in recent years. The clean dining environment, comfortable public facilities, and civilized tourism environment, as well as the new scene of civilization experienced by tourists, benefit from a series of drastic and comprehensive rectification of the scenic spot. In recent years, Jiuhua Mountain has practiced "internal skills" in strengthening management and optimizing services, rectifying the scenic spot environment step by step, in an all-round and systematic manner, carrying out tourism market rectification on a regular basis, accelerating the construction of service facilities, and continuously improving the image of the scenic spot. The scenic spot won the comprehensive award of "Great Country Tour · China Scenic Spot Tourism Comprehensive Service Capability Index Ranking".

"Serving rural tourism meals, life is more prosperous"

Raise the "temperature" of people's livelihood and increase the "heat" of happiness

Located at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain, Xizhu B & B is hard to find a room this summer. Wang Lamei, the person in charge of the B & B, said that in the two months of the summer, her B & B received more than 800 guests. Wang Lamei used to be a guide. In 2017, with the encouragement of the village, she invested 3 million yuan to rebuild the old house of her family and make it the first characteristic B & B in the village. In 2019, the operating income was nearly 1.5 million yuan. Although affected by the epidemic in the past two years, the average occupancy rate can reach 60%.

"Our village used to be ready for demolition, the houses were dilapidated, and there were no cement roads. Power outages were often used during peak electricity consumption in summer." It is hard to imagine that today's characteristic homestay villages used to look like this. Wang Lamei said that the comprehensive improvement of the living environment in recent years has brought earth-shaking changes to the appearance of the village, the people live more comfortably, and the villagers have good hardware conditions for developing homestays.

In the past ten years, the urban and rural communities in Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area have spent more than 2.2 billion yuan to strengthen the infrastructure building of the scenic area through the renovation of old communities and the construction of new countryside, and further improve the urban and rural living environment. The per capita disposable income of rural residents increased from 8,572 yuan in 2012 to 19,845 yuan in 2021, and the quality of life of residents continued to improve.

Qian Degao, a resident of Kecun Old Street in his hometown, also felt the great changes in his hometown. Now walking on Kecun Old Street in Jiuhua Township, the clean roads, spacious squares and beautiful streets make people's eyes shine. "In the past, the houses here were old and the streets were crowded. It was common to pile up and build in a mess." Qian Degao runs a breakfast shop. In the past, when it rained heavily, there was standing water on the road, and he could only wade through the water to do business.

With a total investment of 15 million yuan, the Kecun Old Street Environmental Remediation Project aims to upgrade and renovate the existing buildings, open spaces, greening and lighting, road pipe networks, landscape squares, etc. "Now there is no water accumulation in rainy days, and small squares are built in front of every door, making it more convenient to do business," Qian Degao said.

In the past ten years, while accelerating the economic development of Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area, it has closely focused on protecting people's livelihood and benefiting the people, focusing on raising children, learning and teaching, getting old, receiving medical treatment for illness, living and living, and supporting the weak. A total of 3.4 billion yuan of financial funds has been invested to continuously improve and protect people's livelihood.

Looking back on the ten-year road, the footprints of Li Li's hard work are vivid in my mind.

Looking forward to the new journey, the sails are hanging high and the momentum is rising. "Focusing on new tasks, new missions, and new requirements, Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area is emancipating the mind, striving for progress, and striving for advancement with the perseverance of sticking to Qingshan." Wu Jingang said that the scenic area will aim at "Dajiuhua, big tourism, and big industries", and in accordance with the idea of "protection first, standardized inheritance, high-quality development, and driving the whole region", accelerate the connotation development, business model improvement, governance efficiency upgrade, and promote high-quality economic and social development in the new era.

Source/Chizhou Media Center