巴适棋牌

The trend of "following TV dramas to travel" has now reached Sichuan. The recently aired hit TV series "The Lichi Road" has sparked widespread interest among netizens in "rediscovering" the Litchi Road (Lizhi Dao), an ancient Shu road famed for transporting lychees, driving a surge in its popularity.

In fact, as early as February this year, Sichuan issued the Implementation Plan for the Integrated Development of Transportation and Cultural Tourism along the "Greater Shu Roads". The plan explicitly states the intention to create four cultural-tourism corridors—including the Litchi Road—and five themed scenic routes, designed to promote the protection and utilization of the ancient Shu Roads' heritage and support the development of Sichuan into a globally significant tourist destination.

The recently concluded seventh plenary session of the 12th CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee further made plans for integrated transportation-tourism development, explicitly calling for "creating world-class cultural and tourism scenic roads and developing premium travel itineraries with global appeal". As Sichuan works toward its goal of becoming a world-class tourist destination, how is it forging harmonious integration between its scenic landscapes and transportation infrastructure?

Developing Integrated Transportation-Tourism Demonstration Zones

Linking Scenic Wonders via Road Networks for World-class Landscapes

Sichuan stands out as China's only province encompassing alpine zones, plateaus, mountain ranges, hills, and basins. Its unparalleled geography sustains five UNESCO World Heritage sites, 957 nationally certified A-level tourist attractions, and 32 state-protected nature reserves.

Making scenery more accessible and turning journeys into scenery. In 2023, Sichuan pioneered China's first integrated transportation-tourism development demonstration zones, translating this vision into four major projects: the Greater Emei, Greater Jiuzhai, Greater Shangri-La, and Greater Shu Roads initiatives.

"These four major demonstration zones span 13 prefecture-level cities across the province, encompassing approximately 80 percent of Sichuan's tourism resources," stated a leading official from the Highway Administration of Sichuan Provincial Department of Transport, adding that each zone boasts distinctive tourism characteristics. From a geographical scope perspective, the Greater Emei Demonstration Zone centers around iconic sites like Mount Emei, Leshan Giant Buddha, Wawu Mountain, and Zhougong Mountain; the Greater Shangri-La Demonstration Zone creates a tourism circuit featuring the Shangri-La region, Genie Mountain, and Lugu Lake; the Greater Jiuzhai Demonstration Zone builds upon world-renowned attractions like Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, masterfully integrating spectacular natural assets—snow-capped mountains, primeval forests, grassland wetlands—with rich cultural heritage, including Tibetan and Qiang ethnic traditions and revolutionary historical sites; and the Greater Shu Roads Demonstration Zone focuses on the historic pathways of the ancient Shu Road network, covering historical landmarks like Jianmen Pass, Guangwu Mountain, and Langzhong Ancient Town.

"Notably, these four zones encompass multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites, granting them inherent global appeal and visitor attraction potential," stated the official from Sichuan's Highway Administration. Creating world-class cultural-tourism scenic roads is, first and foremost, to serve Sichuan's world-renowned landscapes. By strategically linking attractions through transport networks, the province is evolving tourism from fragmented "attraction sightseeing" to networked "destination clusters", said the official.

After two years of systematic development work, the four demonstration zones have achieved significant progress in the transport network, showing markedly improved inter-attraction accessibility. Notably, the Greater Emei Demonstration Zone has taken the lead in addressing critical infrastructure bottlenecks by completing routes such as the S104 Yucheng District section from Caoba Town to Wangyu and the S308 Wawu expressway, while eliminating dead-end access at the Mount Emei scenic area. These upgrades significantly reduced travel times to attractions like Mount Emei, Wawu Mountain and Zhougong Mountain. The newly constructed Mount Emei Daya Road (Dawei Town to Heiyakou) has transformed the previous single-route access to the Golden Summit, alleviating congestion at this iconic site while creating new opportunities for roadside tourism experiences.

In addition to the achievements in the Greater Emei Demonstration Zone, the Greater Shangri-La Demonstration Zone has achieved interconnection among its important tourist nodes, such as Daocheng Yading, Muli, and Lugu Lake. The Greater Jiuzhai Demonstration Zone marked a transportation milestone with the opening of the Cheng-Huang section (Chengdudong to Huangshengguan) of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway, establishing a multi-modal rapid transit system that integrates expressways, rail, and air connectivity. The Greater Shu Roads Demonstration Zone is nearing completion of the Nuoshuihe-Guangwushan Highway (Micang Avenue) within this year, which will reduce the driving time between the two scenic areas from four hours to just 90 minutes.

Since the launch of its four integrated transportation-tourism demonstration zones, Sichuan has constructed or upgraded 530 kilometers of national and provincial arterial highways along with over 1,000 kilometers of "Beautiful Rural Roads", achieving expressway coverage for 83 percent of its 5A-rated scenic areas and all national-level tourist resorts, while ensuring 82 percent of 4A-rated scenic areas and all provincial-level tourist resorts are accessible via Grade III or higher-standard highways.

Exploring a Sichuan-specific Standard System

Theme Definition, Road Aesthetic Enhancement, and Visitor Retention to Elevate Ordinary Paths to Premium Tourist Routes

During this year's Labor Day holiday, Jiuzhaigou once again became a popular destination, welcoming over 154,900 tourist arrivals in five days, setting a new historical high.

A tourist highway plays an important role in attracting visitors to the scenic area. The newly renovated Chuanjiu Road (from Chuanzhu Temple to Jiuzhaigou) is the most convenient passage connecting the two natural World Heritage sit[Besteasy1] es, Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. Through flexibly placed diverse amenities, including viewing platforms, roadside parking areas, cycling/hiking trails, and campsites, the province has created a comprehensive slow-travel service system along the road that achieves in-depth transportation-tourism integration while enriching visitor experiences. Last year, this roadway was included in the second batch of demonstration cases for the integrated development of transportation and tourism, as jointly announced by six departments, including the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Transport.

"Yet the Chuanjiu Road represents just the beginning. Unlike traditional highway engineering that prioritizes the road structure itself, tourism-oriented transportation design places travelers at its core—shifting focus to the traveler's perspective." A relevant person in charge of the Engineering Technology Consulting Center under the Institute of Transportation Development Strategy and Planning of Sichuan P[Besteasy2] rovince presented a map to the reporter illustrating a deliberate design choice: Rather than taking the shortest straight-line route, the road curves along the river bend. "This is to connect the tourism resources and industries along the line, such as landscapes and scenic spots, enhancing both the visual appeal of the road and the overall travel experience."

In line with the goal of creating world-class cultural and tourism scenic roads, what other elements should tourist roads possess? Currently, there is no unified technical standard, but Sichuan has begun pioneering its own approach. Last year, Sichuan promptly introduced standards and identification systems such as the Design Guidelines of Tourism Highway [Besteasy3] of Sichuan Province (Trial), the Sichuan Province Highway Tourism Signage System (Trial), and the "1 + 3" brand logos for transportation-tourism integration in Sichuan. These efforts aimed to answer three key questions: What exactly is a tourist highway? How should newly built or renovated tourist highways be designed? And how should existing roads be transformed for tourism-related use?

Among these efforts, upgrading the road network represents a central focus. As outlined in the Design Guidelines of Tourism Highway of Sichuan Province (Trial), the core transformation strategy emphasizes three pillars: theme definition, road aesthetic enhancement, and visitor retention.

The Greater Emei Three-Mountain Tourism Loop upgrade exemplifies this approach. The project enhances the route through three key dimensions—traffic efficiency, visual experience, and tourism services—while dividing it into three thematic sections: "Majestic Emei", "Picturesque Hongya", and "Refreshing Yucheng". Among these upgrades, the Yanv Lake section features carefully integrated slow-travel infrastructure, including bicycle lanes and walking paths, seamlessly incorporated into its waterside landscape. Along the S308 road, the project strategically coordinates town and village nodes and repurposes the existing facilities along the line to set up the Lotus Bay Service Area. Expanded tourism service functions and enhanced amenities, such as additional rest stops, parking spots, and scenic overlooks, ensure travelers' needs are met throughout their journey.

The Three-Mountain Tourism Loop in the Greater Emei Demonstration Zone has now taken initial shape. This 333-kilometer scenic corridor features three highway service areas, two parking zones, and two observation decks, all of which are newly built, and is supported by a road tourism signage system. Furthermore, the loop's roadside landscaping has been comprehensively renovated and enhanced. In January this year, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly announced the first batch of designated tourism highway projects, covering 35 elite routes—including the Greater Emei "Three-Mountain Tourism Loop".

In addition, according to the recently issued 2025 Work Plan for the "Creating Premium Routes" on Transportation-Tourism Integration Development, Sichuan is set to complete five rapid-access expressways, upgrade 500 kilometers of national/provincial arterial highways, and construct 1,400 kilometers of "Beautiful Rural Roads" this year. The province will develop four flagship integrated transportation-tourism routes to establish premium travel brands, including the Greater Emei Three-Mountain Tourism Loop, the Greater Jiuzhai Ring Route, the Greater Shangri-La Inner Circuit, and the premium waterborne route. It will also complete five themed tourism highways—including the Three-Mountain Loop "Forest Retreat Route", Liya Road "Celestial Pathway", Chuanjiu Road "Jiuzhai-Huanglong Fairyland Route", Ruohong Road "Yellow River Grassland Route", and Lixiao Road "Colorful Canyon Byway"—with approximately 900 kilometers of targeted tourism-focused upgrades across these premier routes.

Developing Innovative Transportation-Tourism Integrated Products

Transport as Tourism and Tourism Sustaining Transport to Achieve Synergistic 1+1>2 Benefits

"Transportation-tourism integration is not merely the sum of transport and tourism elements, but rather an interactive convergence of resources. Through mutual reinforcement and empowerment between the two sectors, such integration achieves a synergistic '1+1>2' aggregation effect." In the view of the person in charge of the Engineering Technology Consulting Center, the initial stage of transportation-tourism integration involves transportation supporting tourism—literally "paving the way" for travel experiences. As integration deepens, transportation itself becomes part of the tourism offering while tourism reciprocally enhances transport improvements, creating a mutually reinforcing virtuous cycle.

To further advance transportation-tourism integration substantively, innovative products and services are equally critical.

Sichuan is rich in exceptional tourism resources, ranging from majestic mountains and lush forests to pristine lakes and wetlands. To elevate the travel experience, the Department of Transport has outlined plans to enhance multi-modal connectivity covering water, land and air routes, explore and expand short-haul air shuttle services, and develop tailored tourism-transport offerings such as eco-friendly rail excursions and curated mountain self-drive adventures, introduced in phases based on demand.

This year, retrofitted tourist trains converted from traditional rail cars have become a viral travel phenomenon. The railway department, in light of market demands such as tourist sightseeing, eco-wellness preservation, and red-themed study tours, meticulously designs routes and creates featured tourist trains and age-friendly silver-haired special trains, truly making "the train journey part of the destination experience". The "Panda Express·Chengdu" train, jointly created by China Railway Chengdu Gro[Besteasy4] up and Chengdu Culture &Tourism Development Gro[Besteasy5] up, was launched in May, and tickets were in extremely short supply.

Beyond themed tourist trains, an expanding array of "transport-plus" tourism products continues to flood the market.

During this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the "Night Tour of Jinjiang River" received another innovative upgrade—a new land-water integration offering developed in collaboration with Chengdu Public Transport. Ms. Liu, a delighted visitor, marveled, "Taking the bus through the glittering nightscape, then transferring to a cruise—it feels like time travel, allowing us to experience Chengdu's unique Dragon Boat Festival charm." Reportedly, the "Night Tour of Jinjiang River" was selected last year as one of the second batch of demonstration cases for transportation-tourism integration.

Additionally, Sichuan is strategically developing premium waterway experiences like the Jialing River Nanchong Cruise, Langzhong Water Town Tour, and Minjiang Tourism Corridor. In the future, it will introduce a series of upgraded ship-based tourism products featuring themed voyages and customized service packages to elevate the province's premium aquatic tourism brand.

While developing innovative "transport-plus" tourism products, Sichuan is simultaneously improving its transportation services. It is reported that Sichuan will further enhance the operation plans for bus routes and direct tourist shuttles, while leveraging the Jintong rural transport initiative to better connect remote and dispersed cultural-tourism destinations.

According to the 2025 Work Plan for the "Creating Premium Routes" on Transportation-Tourism Integration Development, Sichuan Province will ensure comprehensive direct tourist shuttle coverage for all 4A-level and above scenic areas across the province. This will be primarily achieved by increasing the passenger transport capacity on routes connecting urban centers and passenger transport hubs (stops) with key tourist attractions and major scenic spots in adjacent regions. Meanwhile, leveraging the unique features of key scenic areas such as Jiuzhaigou, Sanxingdui, and Mount Emei, the province will develop specialized tourist routes and regional passenger transport loops. With a focus on the Greater Jiuzhai Ring Route, efforts will be made to enhance car rental services that offer "pick-up upon arrival and drop-off at alternate locations".