On the evening of October 5th, the upgraded 5D immersive night tour show "Silver Flower Legend" was staged as scheduled at Gaoming Lake Wetland Park in Tongjiang county, Bazhong, Sichuan province.

Special snacks, cultural and creative products, intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting, and song and dance performances attracted tourists to stop and enjoy the festivities. During this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, this theme park, built around the IP of Tongjiang tremella fungus, received a total of 56,200 visitors.

Looking across the whole city, with richer landscapes and business formats, Bazhong further tapped into the large consumer market of cultural and tourism consumption. A-level tourist attractions received a total of 677,000 visitors, with a year-on-year growth of 146.54%.

In 2021, Bazhong proposed to break through the development of cultural tourism and its health industry, and to build a strong cultural tourism city during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, significantly enhancing the contribution of cultural tourism and the health industry to economic and social development.

Enriching cultural and tourism formats

"The air here is fresh, the climate is comfortable, and you can experience night tour projects." In September, many sightseeing groups come to Guangwu Mountain Scenic Area fro escape the summer hear, most of them from surrounding provinces and cities such as Shaanxi and Chongqing.

The night tour project mentioned by the tourists is the large-scale immersive mountain and water night tour project "Dream Guangwu Mountain”, which was launched by Guangwu Mountain Scenic Area. This project relies on the national intangible cultural heritage "Bashan Beier Song" and Micang Ancient Road. It adopts such advanced technologies as naked-eye 3D holographic imaging, mountain and forest imaging, water special effects, and AR interaction to deeply integrate Bashan culture and natural landscapes, enhancing the experience and satisfaction of tourists.

Why launch night tour projects? Luo Shangzhi, the person in charge of Sichuan Guangwu Mountain Nuoshui River Tourism Scenic Area Management Co., Ltd., explained that in the past, there were few interactive projects in the scenic area and a lack of tourism products that would attract tourists to stay overnight. Most tourists would return after half a day, without bringing many benefits. "The introduction of night tour projects has greatly changed this situation."

According to statistics, over the past three years, this project has driven the growth rate of overnight tourists in the scenic area to above 70%, especially in the summer, the growth rate of overnight tourists in the scenic area reaches 98%. At the same time, after launching preferential marketing policies such as "tickets + performances + accommodation," the repurchase rate of tickets in the scenic area has reached 36%. This is also a vivid practice of the "nighttime economy" in Bazhong.

Not only the "nighttime economy," but the "cooling economy" is also a new attempt for Bazhong to develop its cultural and tourism and health industries.

Bazhong has abundant vegetation resources, and in some areas, the summer temperature stays at around 20 degrees Celsius, providing the basic conditions for the "cooling economy."

In early September, many citizens from surrounding cities come to Tianma Mountain National Forest Park in Bazhong's Bazhou district to camp and escape the summer heat. "After the vehicles enter the scenic area, the temperature noticeably becomes cooler." A man surnamed Wu, who lives in Nanchong city, told reporters that every summer, he would bring his family to Tianma Mountain to cool down, camp, and barbecue.

In recent years, summer escape tourism has become a popular way for many citizens, and Tianma Mountain Scenic Area with its unique natural conditions firmly grasps this trend. By refurbishing mountain roads, building passenger transportation centers, upgrading hotels and homestays, the scenic area received 2.83 million visitors in 2022, achieving a comprehensive tourism income of 2.37 billion yuan ($324.62).

“Now, more and more tourists come to Tianma Mountain, especially in August and September. It is necessary to book accommodation in advance in mountain homestays and hotels." Liu Zhong, a resident of Nanyang community in Tianma Mountain town, said.