On October 19 and 20, the "Strolling Through China · Hunan Tour" event was held in Jishou City, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Guests and journalists from Laos, Niger, Ghana, and other countries visited the Aizhai Bridge to take in the majestic grandeur of this world-class engineering feat, and stepped into the Dehang Miao Village to explore the landscapes and ethnic culture of western Hunan. The event marks Jishou's efforts to align with the development of the Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area, promote regional cultural and tourism collaboration, and accelerate the transformation from a tourist transit hub to a tourism destination.

Jishou enjoys a prominent geographical advantage. The Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua High-speed Railway runs through the city, while the Baotou-Maoming and Hangzhou-Ruili expressways intersect here. Jishou East Railway Station is designated as one of Hunan's comprehensive passenger transport gateway hubs, with 85 scheduled trains connecting to numerous major cities across the country. Linking Zhangjiajie to the north and Huaihua to the south, it serves as a natural relay station along cultural and tourism routes. The city is home to the Aizhai-Shibadong-Dehang Grand Canyon, a 5A-level scenic area. Qianzhou Ancient Town boasts a rich cultural heritage spanning more than 4,000 years, with abundant intangible cultural heritage resources such as Miao drum dance and Miao embroidery.

To stimulate the momentum of its cultural and tourism development, Jishou has established a new "one core, one growth pole, one zone, multiple points" pattern for all-for-one tourism to upgrade travel experience. With the Aizhai Wonder Tourist Area as the core engine, the city has launched a 120-yuan three-day slow-travel pass, covering core attractions such as the Aizhai Bridge, Dehang Canyon, and Jidou Miao Village, promoting a shift from check-in sightseeing to immersive slow travel. With Qianzhou Ancient Town as the cultural empowerment hub, an ancient banknote-themed live-action role-playing game has been launched to revitalize the ancient town's cultural tourism economy through immersive experiences. With Aikou Village's "Hundred-li Tea Corridor" as an integrated development demonstration zone and multiple key rural tourism villages as supporting points, the city has continued to enrich new business formats of cultural and tourism sectors. At the same time, urban green spaces are being expanded, parking spaces added, and temporary market stalls created to comprehensively enhance the travel and living experience for visitors.

A framework for coordinated regional development is gradually taking shape. On September 23, the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism announced five cross-regional premium routes for the Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area, two of which include Aizhai and Qianzhou Ancient Town. In addition, Jishou is dedicated to developing study tours. On September 24, a promotional event for premium autumn study tours was held, introducing five such routes covering themes such as geological science popularization, rural revitalization, and cultural heritage preservation. Among them, the two-day Zhangjiajie-Sangzhi "Red Long March" themed tour made its debut. In the spring of 2026, Jishou received 42,975 study-tour visits, with initial success in cross-regional visitor attraction and steady growth in the out-of-province long-haul market.

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

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn