Using Every Part of a Place to Develop Tourism

CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Tuesday, January 5, 2021 | 17 LIFE Left: Artists turn some former facilities of the steel plant into contemporary art pieces. Middle: A locomotive inside the museum is a popular subject for social media posts for nostalgic visitors. Right: A steam engine bought from the United Kingdom in 1906 was a crucial witness of the glorious history of the steel plant. PHOTOS BY WANG KAIHAO / CHINA DAILY A legacy forged in steel An industrial site that played a crucial role in the country’s wartime history and subsequent development offers insights into the past, present and future, Wang Kaihao reports in Chongqing. teel can represent more than na’s provisional capital during the changes, such items’ legacies last a nation’s industry. It can war. and encourage people to continu also symbolize and even With great pain, China deliberate ously create new things. embody its unswerving spir ly destroyed the remaining con Another relocation came in 2011, Sit and shared determination. structions in the Wuhan plant when Chongqing Iron and Steel was A visit to the former steel plant by before the city fell. moved out of downtown to better the Yangtze River in Chongqing The 1,200kilometer journey protect the environment. municipality offers more than view along the Yangtze River was an “It’s even more costly to refurnish ings of old steampunk elements. adventure in the face of continuous the old factory to match the criteria For many Chinese, it’s like a pil Japanese bombings and the shoals of the exhibitions than building a grimage to pay homage to their pre of the Three Gorges. new museum,” Guan says. decessors’ endeavors and toughness Nevertheless, over 323,000 tons “But it’s worth it. The neighboring during trying times. of equipment arrived in Chongqing. communities won’t thrive if we The plant has been converted into The SPRC plant resumed operating don’t revive this site.” the Chongqing Industrial Museum. in Dadukou district in 1939. It took eight years to finish the The venue in Dadukou district According to historical files col project. A principle of “minimum opened to the public in September lected by the museum, the SPRC intervention” was adopted to retain 2019, on the eve of the 70th anniver plant in Chongqing provided over historical information, and all sary of New China’s founding. 90 percent of the steel consumed by marks of renovation are recogniza Chimneys, iron frames, tramcars Chinese arsenals during the war. A ble and reversible, if needed in the and steel ladles are still there, seem cluster of wartimearsenal sites in future. ingly ready to usher people back to Chongqing, including the plant, Dadukou’s economy previously an old story about a cradle of China’s were inscribed on a list of national relied on Chongqing Iron and Steel, modern industry. level key heritage sites by the State so it needed to find new ways to cul In 1890, Zhang Zhidong, the vice Council in 2013. tivate prosperity. roy of Huguang, the chief official of Yan Yangchu, a famous educator “The museum is like a window today’s Hubei and Hunan provinces, then, hailed the painstaking reloca into our district,” deputy director of undertook an ambitious initiative to tion of industrial equipment during Dadukou’s culture and tourism construct Hanyang Iron Works in the war as “the Dunkirk moment of committee Fan Yongli says. Hubei’s provincial capital, Wuhan. Chinese industry”. “Since the old industry is gone, we China’s first modern steel producer “This steel plant’s contributions need to make local communities became the foundation for the coun to China’s victory in the War of The Chongqing Industrial Museum was converted from the former site of an iconic steel plant as a dynamic again through tourism.” try’s industry. Resistance Against Japanese symbol of a country’s strong spirit. WANG KAIHAO / CHINA DAILY She says a cultural park centered Between its founding and the Aggression is ineffaceable,” the on the industrial museum is being Qing Dynasty’s (16441911) fall, it museum’s deputy director Guan planned. produced almost all of China’s steel, Yongqin says. the Chongqing Iron and Steel Com it’s a nostalgic place for Chongqing tory. Such sectors as automobile and “The museum can also be a hub until more plants appeared in the Guan proudly introduces a steam pany continued to witness many residents, especially the elderly. textile manufacturing boomed, as for cultural creativity,” she says. following years. Yet it remained a engine Zhang Zhidong bought from milestones in China’s industrial In addition to wartime photos have hightech industries in recent For example, its industrial ele pillar of Chinese industry. the United Kingdom in 1906 as the development. For example, the first and relics, an exhibition hall that’s years. ments have inspired designers to In March 1938, the frontline of the most important exhibit. Chinese rail was made there in also a former steel plant ushers An old TV set with only eight but create popular souvenirs. War of Resistance Against Japanese From its early days in Wuhan and 1950. visitors across a century through tons reminds us that everything And artists have given the rusted Aggression (193145) was approach through the wartime years — some On May 18, International Muse displays of various old items. It familiar in our everyday lives may iron frames new life. The colorful ing Wuhan. of its components were even sunk um Day, a Chongqing Industrial shows how Chongqing’s modern end up in museums much sooner outdoor art pieces seem reminiscent To prevent this key facility from into the Yangtze by Japanese bombs Museum exhibition was listed industry started from nothing and than we expect. of the Transformers. falling into the enemy’s hands, a and salvaged after the war — it con among the country’s top 10 exhibi gradually transformed the city But a juxtaposition of “Chongqing Indeed, the site is a reminder of Steel Plant Relocation Committee, tinued working until 1985, when tions of 2020 by the National Cultur into an economic hub in western products” hung from the exhibition how steel has, itself, always been a or SPRC, was established to move new machines replaced it. al Heritage Administration. China. hall’s ceiling — mechanical clocks, remarkable transformer. the dismantled machinery and It can still function today, Guan The largescale steelmanufac Modern industries mushroomed cameras and ancient handicrafts equipment in Wuhan west to says. turing machines may offer subject in the city after the openingup of like pottery — points to another Contact the writer at Chongqing, which later became Chi After New China’s 1949 founding, matter for social media posts. But the 1890s, starting with a match fac thought: No matter how time [email protected] Using every part of a place to develop tourism By ZHAO RUIXUE The list was released by the Minis in Rongcheng, Shandong try of Culture and Tourism in Rong [email protected] cheng on Dec 17. The ministry released the first batch of 71 demon People in most villages in north stration areas in 2019. ern China spend winters idly after To coordinate resource use, most the year’s harvest until the planting of the recognized demonstration season arrives in spring. Not so for areas form a work plan led by top the inhabitants of Yandunjiao vil officials. lage in Shandong province’s Rong “Tourism is not only a driver of cheng city. quality economic development but “We are much busier in winter also an important part of quality liv than in summer,” resident Gao ing. Tourismbased holistic develop Yongjin says. ment should engage residents to Gao runs the village’s biggest build and enjoy quality lives togeth homestay, which is less than 10 er,” Bao says. meters from the bay where thou Rongcheng has developed a vol sands of whooper swans fly from unteer and a credit system to Siberia and other regions and stay encourage residents to join in such from November to April. work as tour guiding, environmen “People come to see the swans in tal protection and public service. winter,” Gao says. Left: Bird watchers and photographers from around the country come to Rongcheng in Shandong province to see whooper swans, which The city has created credit records “They prefer to stay in our village stay from November to April. Right: Rongcheng’s Yandunjiao village develops homestays for visitors. PHOTOS BY ZHAO RUIXUE / CHINA DAILY for residents, organizations and for several days to enjoy seaside life. market entities. Those who achieve We also have cafes to accommodate sufficient scores can enjoy some tourists’ different tastes.” efforts to advance tourismbased clean,” Gao says. at a designated “marine ranch”. construction and integration of public services, such as bus trans Gao says over 60 of the village’s holistic development across the city. “We don’t have professional “We’re busy yearround,” Gao such sectors as the agricultural, portation, for free. roughly 220 families run homestays. Rongcheng launched a campaign cleaners. We volunteer to keep our says. marine and service industries,” “Being listed as a demonstration Tourism development has brought to improve sewage treatment and village clean because we know the This year, the village has wel Rongcheng’s Party secretary Bao area is a new start to promote tour drastic improvements to their lives. riverwater quality years ago. Rong benefits of a clean environment.” comed over 80,000 tourists, who Xi’an says. ismbased holistic development,” Yandunjiao was listed as a desig cheng’s offshore waters are now rat After the swans leave for their generated 10 million yuan ($1.53 Rongcheng was listed among the says Wang Xiaofeng, a senior official nated village of rural tourism in Chi ed Grade 2, the second highest in summer habitats, Gao and his fellow million).

Load more