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Seven million vote in bid to find 'Top Eight' tourism sites

By Liu Mingtai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-22 11:31

Northeast China's Jilin province has announced plans to focus on promoting its burgeoning tourism industry as one of its key economic drivers.

As part of the initiative, a recent competition to select the "Top Eight Tourist Spots in Jilin" caused a considerable stir in the province and attracted the votes of seven million people.

According to Han Changfu, governor of the province, the high levels of voting are a testament to the importance of Jilin's tourism industry.

Han said: "We hope that the competition to identify the province's top eight tourist spots will let more people know about Jilin's rich and unique visitor resources and tempt them to visit the province.

"Tourism will become one of the province's major industries, a worthy addition to our existing strengths in the automobile, petrochemical and agriculture sectors."

The province's tourism income is expected to top 100 billion yuan - around 10 percent of the province's GDP - by 2012, according to the Jilin provincial development blueprint.

Han said: "Jilin can achieve its goal as it has a number of spectacular tourism resources, including the Changbai Mountain, Tianchi Lake, the Xianghai Wetlands and the Songhua Lake. The province also has a unique folk culture, with a wealth of historical relics, such as the folk arts of the Korean, Mongolian and Manchu ethnic groups, as well as it being home to a number of ancient Korean Kingdom relics."

In a bid to upgrade its tourism management services, the province has launched a series of projects aimed at promoting several "golden tourist routes". It has also introduced a high-level service and management system.

Additionally, the province is setting about drastically improving its tourism infrastructure. In the Changbai Mountain areas, the newly built Changchun-Yanji Expressway has now been opened to the public and the Yanbian airport and the Changbai Mountain Forest tourist airport are also now in service. The Changchun-Baishan Expressway is under construction and a number of star-graded hotels have been commissioned.

Han maintains that tourism development is an important symbol of the province's modern economic development and social prosperity. Tourism has become one of Jilin's fastest growing industries and is set to boost the development of the province's other industries, as well as the overall growth of the area, said Han.

Tourism development is also an important channel for expanding international exchange with the province, as more and more foreign tourists will inevitably bring more information, investment and business opportunities to Jilin, he said.