Natural oxygen bars facilitate ecotourism across China

Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in central China's Hubei Province was recently awarded the title of "China's Natural Oxygen Bar" at an industry development conference in the prefecture.

That made Enshi Hubei's first and China's sixth prefecture-level city (prefecture) to win the title.

The "China's Natural Oxygen Bar" brand was initiated by the China Meteorological Service Association (CMSA) in 2016. By evaluating climate conditions and eco-environmental quality and protecting and utilizing high-quality tourism resources, the brand has helped regions recognized as China's natural oxygen bars leverage local climatic and ecological resources to develop tourism and the green economy.

Photo shows the Dixin Valley Scenic Area, which won the title of "China's Natural Oxygen Bar," in Jianshi county, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Eight counties and cities in Enshi are on the list of China's natural oxygen bars, which reflects the prefecture's remarkable ecological advantages in developing integrated tourism.

Xia Xifan, deputy Party secretary and governor of Enshi, said in recent years, the prefecture has made use of its unique natural resources to enable it and its eight counties and cities to win the honor of "China's Natural Oxygen Bar,” where several tourist destinations are sanctuaries to avoid the heat. Xia added that ecotourism has emerged as one of the pillar industries in the prefecture.

"Since the launch of the first batch of China's natural oxygen bars in 2016, 313 county-level regions and scenic areas have been awarded the title," said Xu Xiaofeng, president of the CMSA.

Xu added that through "China's Natural Oxygen Bar" activity, multiple ecological areas suitable for tourism, leisure, vacation and wellness have been promoted to provide more integrated tourism products.

In recent years, the CMSA and regions recognized as China's natural oxygen bars have launched creative derivative products, such as oxygen bar-themed go-to destinations, B&B hotels, tourist trains, and quality products.

Wushan county in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality won the title of "China's Natural Oxygen Bar" in 2019. Meanwhile, Wushan's plums were certified as oxygen bar-themed quality products. The price of the county's plums increased to between 12 yuan ($1.65) and 14 yuan per kilogram from 6 yuan per kilogram before the certification. That year, plum growers in the county boosted their incomes by 560 million yuan. Data shows that the brand value of Wushan's plums has reached 2.71 billion yuan, ranking first nationwide for four consecutive years.

A plum grower advertises plums in a livestream in Ganyuan village, Wushan county, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Chu Jiayin)

Today, the planting area of plums in 23 towns and townships in Wushan has reached 300,000 mu, or about 20,000 hectares. Leveraging plum trees, the local government has developed ecological tourist attractions and staged events, including a plum blossom festival, enabling more farmers to benefit from the tourism sector.

Sun Jian, executive vice president of the CMSA, said the association launched a program to upgrade oxygen bar-themed B&B hotels this year to empower local rural revitalization.

Hu Yinyuan, an official of the industry development department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, suggested fully tapping into the value of meteorological resources and launching innovative and diversified tourism products and scenarios to drive industrial development.

Zhang Jiutian, a professor at the Green Development Institute of Beijing Normal University, called for promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries by focusing on low-carbon ecotourism and leveraging unique local cultures based on local conditions to turn ecological advantages into economic benefits.