The panda-themed tourist train, a tourism initiative originating from Sichuan, is now running south to Yunnan, linking the region's scenic and cultural landmarks while offering travelers an opportunity to enjoy the vibrant spring landscape and explore local traditions and attractions.
Departing from Chengdu, provincial capital of southwest China's Sichuan, the panda special train, with 466 passengers on board, is heading through northwestern and southern Yunnan, connecting eight cities and a variety of cultural and tourism hotspots.
Among the highlights is Lincang city, known for its lush forests, clear streams, and misty mountains. The area is also home to the Wengding primitive tribe, which preserves traditional Wa ethnic minority group's customs and attracts numerous visitors each spring.
"I had come across information about the Wengding [primitive tribe] online and had long craved for a visit. There, I saw the Lamu drum, and when I strike at different points, it makes a variety of sounds, which was fascinating," said a passenger.
Just 50 kilometers from the Wengding tribe lies the "Thousand-Meter Cliff Mural Corridor", a breathtaking karst landscape resembling a dark, vibrant Chinese landscape painting. March is the peak tourist season here, with visitor numbers reaching nearly 20 percent of the total annual flow.
"The growth of cultural tourism has created more job opportunities for the local community to earn money. Many villagers are now working in tourism-related roles such as security, tour guides, and folk performers. Additionally, local specialty foods and agricultural products from surrounding villages are also selling well," said Yang Ping, deputy director of the Lincang City Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
The special train is operated by the Chengdu Railway Bureau and boasts a flexible schedule, with multiple departures throughout the year. The routes not only extend beyond southwest China, but also cover dozens of cities across the country.
Panda-themed tourist train connects cultural, tourism destinations in southwest China
China on Sunday made public a plan on special initiatives to increase consumption, as the world's second-largest economy moves to make domestic demand the main engine and anchor of economic growth.
The plan, issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, aims to vigorously boost consumption, stimulate domestic demand across the board, and increase spending power by raising earnings and reducing financial burdens.
It also aims to generate effective demand through high-quality supply, improve the consumption environment to strengthen consumer willingness to spend, and address prominent constraints on consumption.
The plan, organized into eight major sections, adopts a holistic approach by simultaneously addressing factors such as income growth, service consumption quality enhancement, big-ticket consumption upgrading, and consumption environment improvement.
The plan aims to promote reasonable wage growth by strengthening employment support in response to economic conditions and improving the minimum wage adjustment mechanisms. China will expand property income channels through measures to stabilize the stock market and develop more bond products suitable for individual investors.
"The most basic or core issue in promoting consumption is that ordinary people have the ability and dare to consume. The key to improving consumption capacity is to increase income," said Wang Wei, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
The plan calls for exploring ways to unlock the values of houses legally owned by farmers through rental arrangements, equity participation and cooperative models.
Notably, the plan emphasizes both traditional consumption sectors like housing and automobiles, alongside emerging categories such as artificial intelligence-powered products, low-altitude economy and silver tourism.
By connecting consumer spending to broader social goals like elderly care improvement, childcare support and work-life balance, the plan embeds consumption growth within China's wider development objectives, signaling that consumption is being positioned not just as an economic target but as a means to enhance quality of life.
Accordingly, China will consider establishing a childcare subsidy system. It will guide eligible regions to include individuals in flexible employment, rural migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment who are covered by the basic medical insurance for employees, in the country's childbirth insurance program.
Regarding elderly care, the country will in 2025 increase the fiscal subsidies for basic old-age benefits and basic medical insurance for rural and non-working urban residents. Additionally, basic pension benefits for retirees will be appropriately raised.
The country will work to strictly implement the paid annual leave system -- ensuring that workers' rights to rest and vacation are legally protected. It will also prohibit the unlawful extension of working hours.
Financial institutions will be encouraged to increase the issuance of personal consumption loans, provided risks are controllable. They should reasonably set loan limits, terms and interest rates, according to the plan.
Zou Yunhan, a researcher with the State Information Center, said consumption is playing an increasingly important role in boosting economic growth, but that some challenges still remain in the quest to further unlock consumer potential.
"We need to see the specific difficulties in people's lives, which are important aspects that affect people's willingness to consume. The plan will further alleviate people's worries from various aspects such as childbirth, raising children, elderly care, and medical care, so that everyone can have a better quality of life, and then they will be more willing to consume," Zou said.
China will accelerate the development and application of new technologies and products including autonomous driving, smart wearables, ultra-high-definition video, brain-computer interfaces, robotics and additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, to create new high-growth consumption sectors.
These measures reveal a geographically nuanced approach, with targeted policies for rural areas, regions rich in ice and snow resources, and urban centers -- allowing local authorities flexibility via implementation based on regional conditions.
Support will also be given to ice and snow resource-rich regions to help them develop into globally recognized winter tourism destinations. The plan also emphasizes developing inbound consumption by systematically expanding unilateral visa-free arrangements and optimizing regional visa-free entry policies.
"These new forms and models of consumption can better meet people's needs for consumption upgrades and better stimulate people's enthusiasm for consumption. They can not only provide new impetus for the current consumer market, but also strong support for the continued growth of subsequent consumer markets," Zou said.
China unveils plan on special initiatives to boost consumption
