ASEAN connections help ginkgo forest of Panzhou

The village is dispersed throughout the gingko forest

The ancient Ginkgo Park is located in the quaint Tuole Village, Shiqiao Town of Panzhou City. The trees date back one thousand years and aside from being a beautiful sight to behold, they have also been fruitful for local residents.

The area covers less than three kilometers squared but is home to over a thousand thousand-year-old trees. Tuole natives have lived and worked in the ginkgo forests for generations, and as you walk among the villages and trees, you get a sense of how both are intertwined.

Tuole has been visited by a group of significant guests in November every year since 2016. These guests discuss fields such as global production capacity, tourism and modern agriculture, and has constructed the friendly cooperation among Belt and Road countries and ASEAN countries.

Locals put on a show for visitors

Since 2016, Panzhou has set up cooperation with countries such as Malaysia, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, through which 12 contracts have been signed in industries such as construction and tourism culture worth a total value of around 7.5 million yuan.

Thanks to these new links, the park has been officially approved as a national AAAA tourist attraction and a provincial tourist resort. A hotel has been built on the outskirts of the park which offers employment in the local area.

In addition to developing tourism, ginkgo products have appeared in various forms. Since the first Tuole Forum in 2016, processing bases of ginkgo products such as ginkgo powder, ginkgo tea, ginkgo noodles and ginkgo liquor have been built and the integration of production, processing and sales have taken shape.

There are many places to explore in the ginkgo forest

Now the ginkgo products are sold domestically and abroad. In the local area, villagers sell their products to tourists enjoying the natural scenery. For Panzhou city and the surrounding areas, their circle of friends is getting bigger.

Together with more tourism and a better development environment, the area and the locals living here are sure of a bright future.