Datong in N China's Shanxi advances high-quality development of culture, tourism sectors

With a long history and profound culture, Datong city in north China's Shanxi Province is a national historical and cultural city. It houses 30 major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level, as well as 3,222 pieces of immovable cultural relics. It was recognized as one of the 25 major tourist cities in China in 2022.

People visit the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, June 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)

Focusing on transforming into an important tourist destination for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and an internationally renowned cultural tourism destination, Datong is accelerating efforts to promote the high-quality development of its cultural and tourism industries.

Not long ago, a tourist named Wei Shumin from Beijing drove to the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Datong.

"Everything in the scenic area is well planned. I parked my car in less than 20 minutes. The arrangement of sign boards and toilets is user-friendly," Wei said during a call to the service hotline of the Datong municipal government.

The scenic area has offered intelligent services and continuously provided new cultural and tourism products in recent years. Nearly 10 cultural venues have been built here, including the Yungang Grottoes Museum and the Yungang Grottoes Art Gallery.

This photo taken on June 8, 2023 shows a view of Datong ancient town in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)

The place where the Yungang Grottoes is located boasts of rich cultural relics. "Focusing on the Yungang Grottoes, we aim to build a long corridor of history and culture of Yungang, and will form a cultural tourism belt and develop all-in-one tourism," said Cui Xiaoxia, deputy head of the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute.

Home to 493 kilometers of the Great Wall, Datong is accelerating the construction of the Great Wall National Park. Stretching 250 kilometers, a tourism highway along the sections of the Great Wall in the city has been completed. Several 4A-level tourist attractions themed on the Great Wall have been built, and over 60 premium Great-Wall-themed B&B hotels have started operating.

Datong has improved the infrastructure to make its five major tourist destinations, namely, the Yungang Grottoes, Hengshan Mountain, Datong ancient town, Datong Great Wall, and Pingxingguan more attractive.

The ancient city has rolled out measures to encourage investments, upgrade its cultural and tourism sectors and build cultural and tourism consumption clusters.

In 2022, Datong established a cultural tourism investment group to step up efforts to attract more investments and extend the industrial chains of the cultural and tourism sectors. The group has implemented projects to restore the Datong ancient town and organized thematic activities, including live performances, further tapping into cultural and tourism resources, said Li Hui, deputy general manager of the group.

Last year, Datong started constructing nine key cultural and tourism projects with a combined investment of 2.64 billion yuan ($367.7 million), and built 24 sites for nighttime activities and 18 camping bases.

This year, the city will accelerate the construction of 22 cultural and tourism projects with a total investment of over 16.49 billion yuan. During this year's May Day holiday, it recorded nearly 4.38 million tourist visits.

Datong also held a cultural and tourism promotion event for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, during which tourism associations of the three provincial-level regions signed strategic cooperation agreements with the tourism association of Datong.

"This year, we will focus on tapping the market potential of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," said Meng Dechang, head of the Datong municipal bureau of culture and tourism.