Empowering Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area Construction

The launch ceremony for the "Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area" digital yuan cultural tourism card was held in Zhangjiajie on September 18, 2026. This marked the first cultural tourism-themed digital yuan visual hard wallet issued in Hunan.

The event was guided by the Hunan Provincial Branch of the People's Bank of China, and jointly carried out by the Zhangjiajie Municipal Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Zhangjiajie Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Television and Sports, and the Zhangjiajie Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China. The cultural tourism card leverages the digital yuan visual hard wallet technology. Overseas tourists can apply for the card with just a passport, and there is no need to open a domestic bank account. It supports recharging with foreign currency cash and foreign cards, to effectively resolve travel bottlenecks such as currency exchange and payment, achieving "card issuance upon entry and one card for the entire city."

The card covers the entire cultural tourism chain in Zhangjiajie, including core scenic areas, hotels and homestays, specialty dining, transportation, and cultural and creative business districts. It offers one-card access for "dining, lodging, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment." Merchants accepting digital yuan for payment collection can enjoy benefits such as zero handling fees and rapid fund settlement. Meanwhile, it also comes with exclusive Agricultural Bank of China discounts and merchant rights to continuously stimulate the cultural tourism consumer market.

As one of the first batch of key cities nationwide for optimizing payment services, Zhangjiajie continues to improve the digital yuan acceptance environment, building the service brand of "Fairyland Zhangjiajie, Borderless‌ Payment." The digital yuan cultural tourism card is a new exploration of finance-empowered smart cultural tourism.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: Voice of Hunan