China's well-preserved ancient cities are becoming top tourist attractions

Pinyao is an ancient city located in China’s Shanxi Province. — Pixabay

During the recent May Day holiday in China, Yemeni student Al-Sayaghi Waleed Mohammed Saleh Ahmed and his friends experienced the ancient way of transferring money in China’s earliest bank in the Pingyao ancient city, Shanxi Province.

“There are numerous cultural relics in China’s ancient cities which have intrigued me to learn more about the country’s past,” Al-Sayaghi said.

China has dozens of well-preserved ancient cities. In recent years, these historical sites have become popular tourist attractions, creating a boom in the cultural tourism industry.

Xinzhou ancient city in Shanxi, with a history of more than 1,800 years, boasts over 500 stores, many of which are time-honoured. They are able to provide various services related to cultural relics, including catering, accommodation and sightseeing.

During May Day, Xinzhou received more than 400,000 visitors, raking in revenues of approximately CNY15mil (RM9.2mil). Nearly 40% of the tourists were from other provincial-level regions.

“The tourist flow never ends. During the peak season, tourists queuing up for dinner easily crowded the courtyard of my restaurant,” raved Wang Guodong, who runs a restaurant in Xinzhou.

Lijiang is another ancient city, located in Yunnan Province. It now hosts regular celebrations of traditional festivals, including the renowned Torch Festival, providing a festive atmosphere full of local characteristics for visitors.

Carrying on the traditions

The cultural elements are what attract visitors to ancient cities. As an important carrier of the country’s intangible cultural heritages and tradition, ancient cities have stepped up their cultural preservation and restoration efforts alongside their booming tourism development.

The ancient county Taiyuan, for example, has established 12 independent institutes for research and study on traditional cultural heritages such as movable-type printing, local opera and shadow puppetry, in its bid to better inherit and develop ancient arts and crafts.

Liu Sai from Shandong Province and his family have been to many ancient cities in Shanxi for holidays. “The quaint environment, intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and on-site experiences allow my kids to learn about, and be touched deeply by, China’s traditions,” Liu said.

Last year, to promote the protection of cultural relics, the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) issued a document on encouraging and supporting social forces to participate in the protection and utilisation of cultural architecture.

“With this document, we can better protect and develop historical relics in the ancient city,” said Su Yawei, manager of the Taiyuan Ancient County scenic area.

Taiyuan plans to introduce a social capital investment of CNY240mil (RM156.44mil) to continue its construction of a large-scale restoration centre for cultural relics.

Geng Yeqiang, professor at the School of Economics and Management at Shanxi University, said that ancient cities can form a cultural tourism circle during its protection and development. The process can effectively boost local economic growth and cultural relics preservation.

“Meanwhile, cultural relics protection departments, the tourism sector as well as social capital and the like should strengthen their cooperation to promote the development of this emerging economic model,” Geng added.

“When a modern city embraces its old past, not only the local culture and history can be passed on, but the tourism boom can also be better channelled,” Su said. – Xinhua