A Survey of Tourist Industry
Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is the political, economic and cultural center of the region, and a modern and booming city full of vitality with rapid economic development achievements. It covers a total area of 10,029 square kilometers and has a population of more than 2.8 million.
As one of the country's top 50 cities in terms of comprehensive economic strength, Nanning has been giver the title of "Sanitary City throughout China", "Advanced City with achievements in the comprehensive treatment regarding the city's environment", "Model City with outstanding deeds in "double supports" (namely, supporting the government and cherishing the people as well as supporting the army and giving preferential treatment to families of soldiers and martyrs), "Garden City of China", one of the "Top Tourist Cities of China" and "Advanced City in Building Spiritual Civilization", which demonstrates a new look of the city based on the beautiful environment and civilization in the days of opening to the world.
Nanning, with obvious geographic superiority, faces Southeast Asia, backs the southwest of China, adjoins Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in the east, and borders on Laos, Viet Nam and Cambodia in the west. It is a center for exchange between the three economic circles of South and Southwest China and Southeast Asia, playing and important role in the fields of exchange and cooperation in these areas.
In 1992, the central government introduced the strategy of giving reins to Guangxi's geographical position as a channel to the southwest and a window to the outside world. Nanning, as a centerpiece among Guangxi's coastal cities, has gradually become a thoroughfare of transit for areas in Southwest China seeking to gain access to the outside world and as an important gateway for importing commodities for Southwest China.
Nanning is blessed with sound natural conditions. Nanning is located in a monsoon region in the south of a subtropical zone, with an annual average temperature of 21.7 centigrade degrees. Winter normally doesn't touch the area, with migratory birds spending the entire year. The city is surrounded by clear rivers and green mountains, with fields of fragrant fruits.
With vegetation cover rate of nearly 40 percent, the city has earned the reputation of China's "Greening Capital" and has given visitors the impression that Nanning is blanketed by foliage and have made the green environment a symbol of Nanning. Nanning borders on Guilin in the north, which is famed for its incredible scenery. To its south is the beautiful seashore of Beihai, which is one of the three top tourist attractions in Guangxi. The area attracts numerous travelers each year eager to see the unique landscape, to witness the lives and customs of the local ethnic minorities, and to enjoy the tropical coastline and explore the rainforest-covered mountains. Topical tours give visitors a chance to appreciate the pastoral landscape of southern China, the charm of frontier rivers and mountains, the lifestyle of the Yao ethnic minority in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomou Region, and the unique features of different counties and cities. Among the special tours are the "Tour to Appreciate the Beauty of the Green Capital", "Tour to the Dreamlike World of Trans-national Landscape". The local authorities are doing their best to attract tourists from all corners of the world by relying on the area's unique tourism resources. It has become an important gateway for travel along the Sino-Vietnamese border and into Southeast Asia.
Nanning boasts convenient transportation network radiating in all directions and combining waterways, highways, railways and air travel. More than 30 passenger trains arrive each day from major cities throughout the country as well as international trains from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The newly expanded Nanning International Airport has opened to more than 30 domestic and international airlines linking Nanning with the country's major cities and Hong Kong, Hanoi and Bangkok, with some 200 scheduled flights each week. The modern terminal, with an area of nearly 30,000 square meters, has enhanced the handling capacity of Nanning Airport to a great extent. Expressways and other trunk roads radiate to all corners of the city, and a highway network centered on Nanning extends in all directions. Moreover, the city has convenient and quick waterway access along the Xijiang River to Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The transportation inside the city is also convenient and fast, for there are altogether over 2,000 tour-buses, medium-buses and other vehicles, and cars available.
Nanning has witnessed the improvement of tourism facilities with each passing day. It has 21 foreign-related hotels ranging from one-star to five-star, with a total of 10,000 beds. Among these, the four-star Yongjiang Hotel was rated as one of the Top 50 Tourist Hotels with economic potential throughout the country. In addition, the city has 51 travel agencies, which include 16 international travel agencies and 35 domestic agencies.
Nanning has witnessed increasing growth in the number of visitors and income earned from tourism year by year. In 1998 alone, the city received 26,260 overseas tourists, earning foreign exchange totaling US$7.0663 million, some 5.01 percent of the city's total income. An addition of 6.89 million domestic visitors brought RMB 3.23 billion yuan into the city, some 19.95 percent of the total. Such achievements made Nanning the second place in the whole region in that year.
The Major tourist attractions in Nanning are as following:
*Qingxiu Mountain Landscape (a park at provincial level);
*Guangxi Museum;
*Guangxi Medicinal Botanical Garden;
*Liangfengjiang River Scenic Spot (a state forest reserve);
*Phoenix Lake Holiday Site
*Minorities Cultural Relics Center
*Western Suburbs Zoo (including the country's largest Crocodile Enclosure, Elephant Enclosure and Hippopotamus Enclosure);
*Golden Scented-Tea Park (the country's largest base for golden scented tea seeds);
*The Ruins of the Battlefield of Kunlunguan (the Memorial hall for martyrs of the anti-Japanese war);
*Yangmei Ancient Town;
*Lingshui Hot Spring (a large constant hot spring);
*Mingxiu Park;
*Daming Muntain (as beautiful as Lushan);
*The Beiqiu ruins of Dingshishan Mountain (one of the 1997's 10 Greatest Archaeological Discoveries in China.)