Rural tourism enriches beautiful Shangri-La

Summer brings supreme natural beauty to Shangri-La in northwest Yunnan’s Diqing Prefecture.

In the Heping village of Xiaozhongdian Town, 39 kilometers from downtown Shangri-la, tourists are enjoying the picturesque grasslands, blue sky and white clouds, together with the cattle, sheep and villages.

“I used to plant highland barley and potatoes, but now I am also a migrant worker in the city,” said Douji Peichu, a local Tibetan villager, who plans to open a restaurant in the village to meet the tourists need.

Lu Zhijun, director of the Diqing Tourism Development Committee, said Diqing has designed four Shangri-La fine tourist routes, involving two connected to villages in neighboring provinces.

Currently, around 20,000 are employed in the 15 A-class scenic spots, 92 star-rated hotels and 46 travel service agencies in Diqing. 

During China's 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), Diqing Prefecture received 62.94 million domestic and foreign tourists, registering a tourism revenue of 42.073 billion yuan.

Source: Xinhua Net; trans-editing by Wang Shixue