The 2023 Hunan (Summer) Rural Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Saturday in Aikou village, Jishou city, capital of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of central China's Hunan province. The festival aims to leverage the city's rural and ethnic culture to boost the development of the rural tourism industry and promote rural revitalization. 

The 2023 Hunan (Summer) Rural Cultural Tourism Festival kicks off in Aikou village, Jishou city, capital of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of central China's Hunan province, June 3, 2023. [Photo by Liu Jianing/China.org.cn]

Jishou, known for the Miao ethnic group's drum dance, boasts 67 intangible cultural heritage items and abundant cultural and tourism resources. At the opening ceremony, six travel routes were recommended to allow visitors to experience Miao ethnic culture and explore natural landscapes. The options include Dehang Miao Village, the Aizhai Bridge, and Fenghuang Ancient Town. 

Six travel routes are recommended at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Hunan (Summer) Rural Cultural Tourism Festival in Jishou, Hunan province, on June 3, 2023. [Photo by Liu Jianing/China.org.cn]

The opening ceremony also featured performances showcasing tea culture, for which the village is well-known. Jishou, boasting a tea planting area of 160,000 mu (10,667 hectares), is recognized among the top 100 counties of China's tea industry. 

The festival also featured a seminar on the role of Hunan's rural cultural and tourism industry in rural revitalization, a performance presenting the city's intangible cultural heritage, and other activities to explore local villages, including Zhonghuang village, Yanke village, and Pingnian village. 

Zhonghuang village, Aizhai town in Jishou, central China's Hunan province. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture has effectively utilized its unique cultural and tourism resources and implemented targeted poverty alleviation projects in villages like Shibadong and Zhushan. This approach has set a precedent for Hunan province and the rest of China in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, said Li Aiwu, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee. 

In recent years, Jishou has been proactive in developing its tourism industry, establishing six villages featuring folk culture, seven national-level villages showcasing ethnic minority cultures, and 14 national-level traditional villages, according to Li Shixing, secretary of the Jishou Municipal Party Committee. 

In the first quarter of 2023, Jishou welcomed approximately 3.7 million tourists, generating 3.48 billion yuan (US$490 million) in revenue, up 30.7% and 46.7% from 2019, respectively. 

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