7/3/2022

Urban Tourism
Historic Cities &
Tourism Developments
Urban area of all types act as tourism destinations,
attracting domestic and international visitors,
including holidaymakers, as well as those on
business and conference trips.

GE2132 This is not surprising as towns and cities offer a

wide range of attractions, which tend to be highly
Li Lin
concentrated spatially.

Sightseeing

The urban environment itself is

as a “leisure product” or a
“tourist product”.

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Historic Cities
As
Tourist Cities

The Forbidden City, Beijing

Tourism in large and historic cities is 北京紫禁城
not a new trend; for example, Paris,
London, Rome and New York all have
long-standing tourism industries.

Tourism was traditionally recognized in

historic towns.

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West Lake, Hangzhou 杭州西湖

Oct.2, 2012, 182,000 visitors

Cases
1. Pingyao, Shanxi
山西平遙古城
2. Lijiang, Yunnan
雲南麗江大研古城
3. Fenghuang, Hunan
湖南湘西鳳凰古城
4. Xi’an
西安
5. Kaifeng
河南開封

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1. Pingyao, Shanxi 山西平遙古城

A World Heritage listed by UNESCO

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e2/80/94/e2809420474b38995aae664b507be51b.jpg in 1997

The most well preserved

ancient city with a
complete city-wall system
(rebuilt in 14th C.).

The central axis is the

main shopping street. A
government building and
some temples are survived.
Now 5.5 million visitors per year. 4,000 old houses were
Ticket sales 118 million RMB. built between 1840-1911.
The combined tourist income 5.4 Tourist income had
billion RMB. The tourist industry increased 52 times (1997-
employed 70,000 staffs. 2013).
City Wall http://www.5857.com/wall/52230.html

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http://www.chinatourguide.com/pingyao/aboutpingyao.html
City Gate The Gate Tower

City Government

市樓 The Market Tower, a landmark of Pingyao

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62,000 visitors during the first

5 days during the National Day
“Golden-week” (2012)

Main Shopping Street

Tourist
programs &
activities

In May 19, China’s Tourist Day, 120,000 tourists visited

Pingyao (2015)

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2. Lijiang, Yunnan 雲南麗江大研古城

A World Heritage listed
by UNESCO 1997

The city is at the foot of

Yulong Mountain玉龍雪山
Sea level is 2,416 meter
high. A lake is called
Heilongtan黑龍潭

https://www.dulichcongvu.com/uploads/THE%20GIOI/TRUNG%20QUOC/Thanh-co-Le-Giang.jpg
http://www.yn-golf.com/scene/ljscene/scene_308.html

https://solomo.xinmedia.com/china/131223-LiJiangB1

麗江古鎮始建於宋末元
初，至今已有八百多年
的歷史。在清咸豐年間
(西元1860年左右)，古城
大部分建築都毀於兵燹
戰禍。

The city was built in Song Dynasty, about 800 years old.
Most of buildings were burned down during a war in
Qing Dynasty (1860).
The existing buildings are reconstructions after 1860. 納西族民居 Local residents are Naxizhu people, a Chinese
minority. Their houses called the Naxizhu House, a very special
type of vernacular architecture.

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The courtyard house is built of woods and bricks, next

to a canal, with a movable bridge.
Inner courtyard 麗江納西族庭院

Many houses are converted into Hotels for tourists.

http://bnb.qunar.com/city/lijiang/dt-6304/

The street

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The canal Commercial establishments

The city center is

An old marketplace
called Xifangjie (四方
街), now is
transformed into a
public square.

Shops, Cafes, Restaurants…

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Performance at the square
Tourism Development
1995, tourism income ￥326 million RMB.
2005, ￥3.8 billion RMB, 63.9% of the local GDP.
2005, the tourism industry employed 116, 000
staffs, 16% of the local work force.
1995, the annual income of a local people was
less than ￥4,000 RMB.
2005, increased to ￥9,290 RMB.
7/3/2022
The Square at night
Because of those successful cases, there is
a trend that more and more historical cities
and towns plan to apply to UN for the title
of World Heritage (申遺), in order to
promote tourist economy. By doing so, local
governments follow international standards
of heritage management set by the UN,
which is a good practice for historical and
cultural preservation.
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More World Heritage

Macau
World Heritage
2005 • 2021：泉州 Quanzhou
• 2017：廈門鼓浪嶼 Xiamen

2019
39 million visitors

Fenghuang was built in 1704,

3. Fenghuang, Hunan 湘西鳳凰古城 along a river. The city gate is
still survive, street were paved
by grey stone slabs. Along the
river are Wood Stilt Houses.
Hongqiao Bridge is the city
landmark.

建於清康熙四十三年
〔1704年〕。現東門和北
門古城樓尚在。城內青石
板街道，江邊木結構吊腳
樓。虹橋是古城的標誌之
一。

https://www.geimian.com/wx/46030.html
https://www.geimian.com/wx/46030.html

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The river

The crossing stones

Grey stone slab

Pavements
Of a street

City Gate https://www.geimian.com/wx/46030.html

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Wood Stilt http://www.nipic.com/show/1/38/965d94d577eecc61.html

Houses

原名臥虹橋，
又稱“風雨
橋”，建於
明洪武初年。

https://www.geimian.com/wx/46030.html Hongqiao Bridge, “Shelter Bridge” is

another name.

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https://www.geimian.com/wx/46030.html
The iconic scene
of Fenghuang At night

Tourism Development

2011, tourist income was 66% of the local GDP,

about 4.4 billion RMB.
Tourist industry provided 80,000 jobs.

Performance at the public square

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4. Xi’an 西安歷史遺蹟公園
• 1. Terracotta Army 兵馬俑(秦)
3 2
• 2. Huaqing Hot Spring Imperial Resort 華清池(唐)
1
• 3. Daming Palace 大明宮(唐)
• 4. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔(唐)
6
• 5. Imperial Garden 芙蓉園曲江池(唐) 4
• 6. City-wall 西安城牆(明)
5

http://img1.lvyou114.com/MapMax/13/20101212103827.jpg

4.1 Terracotta
Army Museum
兵馬俑(秦)

Mall

Park
Park: 260,000 sq.m
Mall: 195,000 sq.m
Museum
Open in 2006

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4.2 Huaqing Hot Spring

Imperial Resort華清池(唐)
2003-2005
21,000 sq.m

The historic remain of 2

hot spring bath pools. https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/travel/3358go.html

4.3 DaMing Palace National Heritage Park

大明宮(唐)

Cable carts to
the hill top

The new park

Model
The site of the ruined palace
3.2 sq.km (4.5 x Forbidden City)
￥ 12 billion (2010)

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4.4 The Big Wild Goose Pagoda Plaza

大雁塔(唐)
A reconstructed
gateway

http://www.nipic.com/show/2/91/5868369k9d7caa4f.html

Plaza: 480 m X 350 m

￥ 500 million RMB
The biggest musical
fountain in Asia (2003)

At night http://sucai.redocn.com/jianzhu_6130592.html
The Plaza http://www.lvyou114.com/tuku/60/60324.html
The musical fountain

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4.5 Tang Paradise & Qujiangchi Relics Park

大唐芙蓉園曲江池遺址公園

http://www.nmhblx.com/js/info_2363.html

Park: 660,000 sq.m

Attraction of many visitors ￥ 1.3 billion RMB
2002-2005

Traditional http://img2.iwanshow.com/img/goods/64/201404206166.jpeg
The park http://news.beibaotu.com/articles/349556
architecture

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4.6 City-wall Park

西安城牆公園

Lantern show
during the Chinese New
Year

http://www.sohu.com/a/53447045_100486

Since 1982, Xi’an restored and turned the wall into a

park. Xi’an is the only provincial capital city in China
with a well preserved ancient city wall system.
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4fc7197d0102x6p0.html

The City Wall

Park

http://news.cnwest.com/content/2015-
12/27/content_13471682.htm
Cycling is a popular activity
http://tupian.baike.com/a2_83_86_01300000432684142 for tourists on the wall.
370868843914_jpg.html

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Xi’an Tourism Income 5. Kaifeng 開封

Qingming Shanghe Yuan
• 2019: 314.6 billion yuan Theme Park of Song Dynasty
Culture
1998

The site locates at the ruins of the

palace of North Song Dynasty,
within the imperial capital city of
Kaifeng.

北宋東京汴梁 (今河南開封)
The long scroll of the painting
Kaifeng: Capital of North Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty was the 清明上河圖

most prosperous Along the River During the Qingming Festival
(the painting shows the city-scape of the
period in ancient imperial capital)
Chinese history.
3 key structures were reconstructed in the theme park

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Qingming Shanghe Yuan

http://www.nipic.com/show/1/75/434f9c17b849a2d5.html
開封清明上河園 The City Gate

The Lakeside Hall

http://www.ccyp.com/ccypContents?content_id=94739
The Rainbow Bridge http://www.ezok.cn/5a/4748425.html

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Bao Zheng
today is
honoured as
the cultural
symbol of
justice
in Greater
China.

包青天 The legendary Judge Bao Zheng

Performance

拋繡球
Throwing
of the
embroidered
ball – a
princess to
choose a
husband
randomly.

http://traveling.h.baike.com/article-849535.html

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Tourism Income
• 2014: 200 million Yuan
• 2017: 300 million Yuan
• 2019: 480 million Yuan/3.52 million visitors

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