Wuyishan City is the only tourism city named after a famous mountain in Fujian Province. It is rich in tourism resources, with unique scenic spots and many historical sites. It has a state key scenic area, key nature reserve, key tourist resort, first-class airport, and the ruins of the ancient city of the Han Dynasty at Chengcun, which is included in the fourth category of historical monuments and cultural relics under state protection. Thanks to its unique geographical location, the Chinese Government has given it approval to set up examining port organizations such as customs and border, commodity, animals and plants, and hygiene supervision bodies. With the approval of the General Administration of Customs, the Wuyishan Bonded Warehouse Zone has been set up here.
Depending on its abundant natural resources and historical sites, and the preferential policies offered by the State and Fujian Province, Wuyishan City has success fully implemented the strategy of "developing through tourism, supported by environment protection, enriched by opening up and strengthened by science and education" since the Eighth Five-year Plan period (1990-1995), thus getting rid of the traditional agricultural county economy barrier and setting up a brand-new pattern for its tourist economy with Wuyishan characteristics. Since then, the city's economy has developed rapidly, and its tourism sector has expanded constantly. Especially since it started to turn itself into "Top Tourist Cities of China", Wuyishan has paid great attention to the improvement of tourism infrastructure facilities, the construction of modernized functions of a tourist city of tourism infrastructure facilities, the construction of modernized functions of a tourist city and the improvement of the quality of tourist services, thus further promoting the sustained, stable and healthy development of the tourist economy. At present, Wuyishan City has 31 travel agencies, including 4 international travel agencies, and 142 tourist hotels, with a total of 11,000 beds. Now the city has the capability of receiving two million tourists a year, including 300,000 foreigners. In 1998, the city's total GNP came to one billion yuan, of which the added value of primary industry was 338 million yuan; that of secondary industry, 258 million yuan; and that of tertiary industry, 404 million yuan. The added value of tertiary industry, led by tourism, made up 40.4 percent of the city's GDP. In 1998, Wuyishan City received 1.6515 million domestic and foreign tourists, including 106,000 overseas tourists, generating a total income of 660 million yuan. The revenue from tourism made up one third of the city's total, and 43.6 percent of the city's GDP.