Aizhai-Shibadong-Dehang Grand Canyon Scenic Area promoted to “5A”

According to an announcement released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on June 11, 2021, Aizhai-Shibadong-Dehang Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture has been promoted to a 5A scenic area. So far, Hunan Province has eleven 5A scenic areas. The scenic area, situated at the core region of Xiangxi UNESCO Global Geopark, consists of Aizhai Bridge in Jishou City, a world-famous bridge masterpiece, Shibadong Village in Huayuan County, where targeted poverty alleviation originated, and Dehang Grand Canyon in Jishou City, the hometown of drumming and a natural oxygen bar. The three scenic spots forming a whole is a highlight of the brand new 5A scenic area. In recent years, Shibadong Village, Aizhai Bridge and Dehang Grand Canyon have shared over 80 percent of their visitors by resource sharing and mutual market promotion.

In 2015, the authorities in Xiangxi, Jishou and Huayuan jointly launched the application for “5A” tourism site designation and have since been carrying out the integration of culture and tourism, enriching tourists’ joyful experiences and improving service.
 
Shibadong Village and Aizhai Bridge were also listed as two of “the 100 selected routes of red tourism for the centenary of the founding of the CPC”. They show tourists the stories of poverty alleviation of Miao villages under the guidance of targeted poverty alleviation and make visitors to these scenic spots feel the cheerful changes in rural areas.
 
Xiangxi has rich tourist resources and owns more than 300 national ecological cultural tourism brands, 28 intangible cultural heritage projects on the national protection list, 12 4A scenic areas and 23 3A scenic areas. It enjoys vigorous growth in the tourism industry and still has huge potential for development.