A growing number of small cities in China now make every effort to create brand-new, unique consumption scenarios by resorting to their characteristic resources, as tours to niche destinations are becoming a new trend of tourism in the country.
A series of measures and policies to expand domestic demand and promote consumption have paid off since the beginning of this year.
In the first half of 2024, up to 60.6 percent of economic growth was contributed by final consumption expenditure, which propped up the GDP growth by 3 percentage points.
On the Hailyu Island in Shandong Province in east China, tourists often embark on a ferry and prepare fish to feed black-tailed gulls, attracting flocks of birds to hover.
"The average number of visitors per day is about 8,000. And our transport capacity has nearly doubled compared to last year," said Wang Dongdong, deputy general manager of a tourism company in Rongcheng.
A stranded ship here in Rongcheng also catches the eyes of many photographers and tourists to take pictures.
"We get here at 7:30 in the morning and close between 8:30 and 9:00 in the evening. The seven photographers of our team can earn about 14,000 to 15,000 yuan a day," said Liang Shuai, a photographer.
With a population of only 710,000 long-term residents, Rongcheng City receives nearly 100,000 tourists a day, thanks to its coastal tourism resources.
In addition, Yiwu City, the world's largest wholesale market, has drawn the attention of both merchants and tourists.
During the five-day Labor Day holiday this year, the passenger flow of the Yiwu International Trade City topped 900,000 people.
With the improvement of transportation infrastructure and cultural tourism facilities, tours to small towns in counties across the country are becoming increasingly popular among tourists.
From January to June this year, the online searches of China's county town tourism skyrocketed by 527 percent year on year, and the growth rate of orders for county tourism was significantly higher than that of first - and second-tier cities.
Owing to hot county tours, the top 50 popular tourist cities have seen their overall orders rise by more than 10 percent since the beginning of this year.
Small cities attract growing number of tourists in China
