BackHunan adds rich colour to its picturesque countryside
Hunan province’s eight tourist hotspots are featured in a list of China’s most beautiful counties in 2019Tourism is a vital component in the strategy of the Hunan province’s efforts to root out rural poverty
PremiumChangsha, Hunan: Hunan, birthplace of Mao Zedong, recently found eight of its tourist hotspots among a list of China’s most beautiful counties in 2019. The list of 219 counties, which includes county-level cities and districts, featured from the province the counties of Guidong, Chengbu, Ningyuan, Jianghua, and Yizhang; Shaoshan City; and, Chenzhou City Suxian and Zhangjiajie City Wulingyuan districts.
This is reason to cheer in Changsha, Hunan’s capital, because it could add to the draw of a province that saw 670 million domestic tourist arrivals in 2017, up 18.3% from the previous year. Overall revenue from tourism climbed almost a third from the prior year to 717.26 billion yuan and international tourism income rose 11.7% to $1.3 billion, according to official data.
Tourism is a vital component in the strategy of the province in southern China to not only make economic growth more balanced and sustainable, it also dovetails into the vision of the country’s central leadership to revitalise the countryside in an effort to root out rural poverty by next year.
The Hunan Provincial People’s Government Information Office announced on January 23 that, according to the Provincial Statistics Bureau, Hunan attained GDP of about 3642.6 billion yuan in 2018, an increase of 7.8% from 2017 and at a growth rate that was 1.2 percentage points higher than the national average. Last year also saw the value created by the service sector hitting 50% of Hunan’s GDP for the first time and consumption contributed more to economic growth than investments.
The provincial government claims it is winning "three tough battles" -- controlling risks, reducing poverty and tackling pollution. Some 1.3 million poor rural residents were lifted out of poverty and environmental quality has improved notably. In May, the Hunan government took a group of foreign journalists on a study tour of rural revitalisation. It included a wide assortment of initiatives, led both by the provincial government and local bodies, on enhancing farm incomes.
The tour incorporated visiting a River Eco Art Town in Xunlong; a trip to the Xiangfeng tea estate in Jinjing, whose White Dew Maojin Tea has won the gold award of China International Tea Expo for six consecutive years; and checking out homestays in Xifu village of Kaihui town and the Huirun camping base.
Also thrown in was a trip to the Youzhuo Milk Industry Co in the Daohuaxiangli Farming Culture Park. The diary, set up in 2014, is now a leading enterprise in pasture planting, cow breeding, fresh milk processing and cold chain sales.
The Carbon River Ancient City held a charming performance of “The Legend of Romance" followed by a visit to the Tanhe Ancient City Museum, built in recognition of one of the country’s most valuable ancient bronze sculpture finds--a square wine vessel decorated with the heads of four rams.
The final day’s itinerary included a visit to Liuyang, the birthplace of fireworks, where the museum officials put on lively display of an ancient yet very modern art. The Changsha Customs announced on February 13 that, in 2018, Hunan exported 217,000 tons of fireworks and firecrackers, an increase of 16.5% over the previous year. The export value hit a record high of 3.27 billion yuan, up 20.8%. Hunan's fireworks exports accounted for 57.3% of the national total.
The rural revitalisation on display in Hunan is part of a countrywide effort improving development that focuses on “supply-side reform, people’s livelihood improvement and agricultural modernisation". In 2017, the annual per capita disposable income of the province’s urban residents was 33,948 yuan while that for rural residents was 12,936 yuan. The per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was 23163 yuan and that of rural residents 11534 yuan. The total expenditure of lowest subsistence allowances was 3.48 billion yuan for 766 thousand urban residents and 3.78 billion yuan for 1.249 million rural residents. In this, Hunan has tuned its development agenda to the national goals.
According to the World Bank, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which took place in Beijing from October 18 to 24, 2017, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to eliminating poverty and promoting shared prosperity and inclusive growth. In his speech at the National Party Congress General Secretary Xi Jinping’s report outlined a new long-term vision for China. The report stated that development is the foundation and key to addressing the country’s challenges but there is now a need to focus on the quality and equality of development.
“As such, the report reformulated the ‘principal contradiction’ as the tension between ‘unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life’. General Secretary Xi highlighted the importance of poverty reduction, livelihood improvement, and the need to ensure that everyone can benefit from the country’s prosperity. The report paid particular attention to income inequality, health care, education and pensions, and air, water and soil pollution," a World Bank study reports.
Disclaimer: The writer was in China at the hospitality of China Daily and China Eastern Airlines
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