CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, September 24, 2018 Travel 15
New strategy to woo Chinese tourists
SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador is working on a From left: A bronze standing man figure; a bronze dragon column shape artifact; the back side of the man with a gold mask; a bronze man figure with beasthead helmet; a strategy to lure Chinese man with a gold mask. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY tourists to its blend of beaches, colonial towns, Mayan pyramids and vol canoes, according to Tour ism Minister Jose Napoleon Duarte. SICHUAN REVEALS ITS TREASURES Newlyestablished diplo matic ties between the two countries are poised to Many of the exhibits in the Sanxingdui Museum look like those in the Jinsha Site strengthen exchanges in a range of areas, from trade Museum, although those in the former are much larger, Huang Zhiling reports. and technology to tourism, Duarte told Chinese media or history buffs headed for Sanxingdui to of the heads of two smiling outlets. visiting Cheng undertake the first formal men, each with a crown, and The minister said he du, the capital excavation of the ruins. the patterns of two fishes and recently spoke with Chi of Sichuan Since then, several genera two birds. nese companies about dif province, a visit tions of archaeologists have The crowns, fishes and birds ferent topics, proposals to the Jinsha worked in the Sanxingdui on the scepter form a picto and routes “we can pur Site F Museum — a treasure Ruins which cover 12 square graph meaning King Yu Fu sue on the road to com trove of relics dating back to kilometers. and the scepter could have mercializing our tourist 3,000 years ago — is a must. Archaeologists were excited belonged to him, says Chen. packages” to Chinese con One of the most impressive by more discoveries in the Fish and birds are believed sumers. relics is a little bronze statue 1980s, which included the to be totems of Yu Fu which As part of that effort, a with a crown and clenched fists. remains of large palaces, the means fish cormorant in Chi Salvadoran delegation will But if that does not impress remnants of eastern, western nese, he says. be traveling to China to you, there is a lookalike bronze and southern city walls in 1984 Information about Can explore opportunities for statue in the Sanxingdui and the discovery of two large Cong and Du Fu, the two kings cooperation in this field, Museum in Guanghan, a less sacrificial pits in 1986. of the Shu kingdom, is scant, and network with China’s traveled city, some 40 km from The discoveries prove that which is evident from the lines leading tourism operators Chengdu. Sanxingdui contains the ruins of a poem by Li Bai (701762), to find out what Chinese And compared with the lit of an ancient city that was the the greatest ancient Chinese tourists want when travel tle bronze statue in the Jinsha political, economic and cultur poet from the school of ing abroad. Site Museum which can be al center of the ancient Shu romanticism. Bridging the language held in one hand, the statue in Kingdom. His poem “Traveling on the barrier is a priority, he said. Sanxingdui Museum is 2.62 The Sanxingdui Ruins is Shu Path is like ascending to “I’m requesting they meters high and weighs 180 seen as one of the most impor the sky” is known to every Chi send me a team of Chi kilograms. tant archaeological finds of nese high school student and nese (teachers) so we can The Sanxingdui statue — like the 20th century in China. prescribed reading for every put together a training the one at the Jinsha Site Muse Before the excavation of foreign student learning Chi program for tour guides um — is believed to represent a Sanxingdui, it was believed nese literature. that already speak king or a sorcerer from the Shu that Sichuan had a history dat In the poem, Li says that English and Spanish, so Kingdom, the name for Sich ing back 3,000 years. But though Can Cong and Yu Fu they can learn Mandarin,” uan in ancient times. thanks to the excavation, it is established the Shu Kingdom said Duarte. The big statue, which is now believed that civilization people know very little about El Salvador wants to believed to be about 3,100 first appeared in Sichuan them. stand out from other Latin years old, is among more than 5,000 years ago, says Chen. For now, the bronze masks American destinations by 10,000 relics unearthed from The Sanxingdui Ruins, locat with the protruding eyes and promoting its unique the Sanxingdui Ruins in ed on the upper reaches of the the gold scepter tell us almost sights, including a land Guanghan. Yangtze River, also serve as all of what we know about two scape dotted with volcanoes The relics, dating back to proof that the origins of Chinese kings of the Shu kingdom, says featuring mountaintop vil between 5,000 and 3,000 civilization are diverse, for the archaeologists. lages and wildlife. years, include gold, bronze Sanxingdui Ruins dispels theo From the Sanxingdui Muse “For us, it’s very and jade articles and many of ries that the Yellow River was um, visitors have to travel about attractive to think the them are on display in the the sole starting point of Chi 2.8 km west to reach the Chinese market is going Sanxingdui Museum. nese civilization, according to entrance of the Sanxingdui to really like the combi Sanxingdui, which literally Duan Yu, a historian with the Ruins where they can see what is nation of volcanoes with means “three star mounds”, is Sichuan Provincial Academy of left of the mounds, the remnants high and low tempera so named because the ruins Social Sciences. of the city walls and the two sac tures, along with colorful are located in a village where The Sanxingdui Museum, rificial pits unearthed in 1986. volcanic lakes,” sur there were three mounds. which was opened in late 1997, Most of the key exhibits in rounded by hotels, res The discovery of the Sanx by the tranquil Yazi River the museum come from the taurants and other ingdui Ruins was accidental. draws visitors from different two pits, says Chen. tourism infrastructure, It seemed to appear from parts of the world. Many of the exhibits in the said Duarte. nowhere, says Chen Xiaodan, Yazi means duck in Chinese Sanxingdui Museum look like The ministry has a five a leading archaeologist with and white ducks can be seen in those in the Jinsha Site Muse year plan to boost the the Sichuan Provincial Muse the river. A bronze celestial tree in the Sanxingdui Museum. um although those in the number of Chinese visi um in Chengdu who partici Visitors to the museum are former are much larger. tors from today’s nearly pated in the excavation of the greeted by dozens of large It is assumed that creators 3,500 to 50,000 by 2023, ruins in the 1980s. bronze masks and bronze of the Sanxingdui culture by launching a marketing In the spring of 1929, Yan human heads with angular moved to Chengdu and creat campaign, boosting air Daocheng, a villager in Guang human features, exaggerated If you go ed relics on display in the Jin connections and calling han, found a stone while dig almondshaped eyes, protrud sha Site Museum after a on the private sector to ging a ditch in his fields. ing pupils and large ears. Take a 20minute train ride disaster like a flood in the Yazi join efforts. Removing the stone, he The masks and heads with to Guanghan North Railway River befell Sanxingdui, says Given the distances Chi found a hole beneath it. And in their bizarre looks look like Station from Chengdu East Zhu Zhangyi, archaeologist nese travelers have to fly, the hole were objects made of the work of aliens because no Railway Station. A taxi ride and deputy curator of the Jin the strategy will promote jade. human race looks like them, from there to the Sanxing sha Site Museum. El Salvador as part of a Fearing that fellow villagers says Tang Min, a guide. dui Museum takes 20 min On Feb 8, 2001, when build larger route that includes might learn about his discov But according to the Chroni utes. The museum is open ers were working at a construc its Central American ery, Yan immediately covered cles of Huayang, a book about all year round except for the tion site in Jinsha village, in neighbors and Mexico to the hole with the stone and history, geography and people afternoon on the eve of the Chengdu, they found ivory and the north. mud and returned home. in Southwest China compiled Spring Festival. jade articles in the piles of mud. “A longdistance trip Later that night, Yan and his by Chang Qu, a historian in Since then, archaeologists has to be a trip that’s family reopened the hole and Sichuan, from 348 to 354, Ticket: 80 yuan ($12) per have excavated some 10,000 worth the while, and the removed more than 400 jade bronze masks with protruding person relics including gold, jade, Chinese have no problem objects. Yan later sold some of pupils in the Sanxingdui bronze and stone ware as well with that. They can travel the objects in Chengdu, arous Museum have something to Ticket hotline: (86)838 as elephant tusks, pottery and for more than 15 days and ing the attention of cultural do with Can Cong, the founder A bronze mask with protruding pupils in the Sanxingdui 5651526 ceramic pieces. up to a month,” said relics dealers who flocked to and king of the Shu Kingdom. Museum. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY And a large number of those Duarte. Guanghan. The book described him as relics unearthed from the Jin A record 2.2 million for “The popularity of Guang having protruding eyes, says sha Ruins, like the little bronze eign travelers chose to visit han jade in turn attracted the Tan Jihe, a historian and presi statue with a crown and El Salvador in 2017, head attention of archaeologists,” dent of the Sichuan Provincial 2.3 cm and weighing 463 making factory from digging made of copper. clenched fists, are on display ing to its Pacific shores, says Chen. Association of History. grams. up the mounds. Later, in response to the in the Jinsha Site Museum Mayan ruins, and indige Then, in 1933, an archaeo Other exhibits at the Sanx It was unearthed in the Speaking about the find, team’s request, the county gov which opened in 2007. nous towns, a 9.5percent logical team headed by David ingdui Museum shed light on Sanxingdui Ruins in 1986 aft Chen, who was then a team ernment of Guanghan sent 36 increase over the year Crockett Graham, the Ameri kings of the Shu Kingdom. er the Sichuan Provincial leader, says that after his team soldiers to guard the site Contact the writer at before. can curator of the museum at One of them is a gold scepter Archaeological Team took found the scepter Chen told where the scepter was found. huangzhiling@ Huaxi University in Chengdu 143 cm long, with a diameter of action to stop a local brick onlookers that the scepter was The scepter has the images chinadaily.com.cn XINHUA UN tourism body director: Chinese tourists among ‘best prepared’ in world
MADRID — Chinese tour shared his opinions with Xin “They don’t have barriers don’t know them well,” Hal which looks for experiences ue in the coming years.” international tourism in 2017, ists are among the “best pre hua recently in an exclusive such as the language problem ter said. where spending habits have He said that direct air links making up “almost a fifth of pared” tourists in the world interview on the findings of the that their parents had. They He explained that the type changed and where they don’t between China and Europe the total tourism spending of and have no “barriers” when UNWTO Tourism Highlights are very welleducated tour of tourists visiting a foreign travel from country to country, had increased drastically in $1.3 trillion.” it comes to traveling abroad, 2018 Edition, which was pub ists,” he said. country is now different from but where they get to know recent years and that would “In terms of spending, the said a United Nations offi lished earlier this month. “They use the most mod those several years ago. and enjoy local culture,” Hal only facilitate more Chinese Chinese market is the ‘top cial. The official explained that ern payment means, such as “We have changed from a ter said. tourists spending their holi spender’ with a big difference Manuel Butler Halter, the Chinese tourists are among mobile phones. They are ‘gregarious’ tourism, which Chinese outbound tourism days abroad. over the second biggest spend executive director of the Unit the best prepared in the world radically different from the saw people travel with a pack has been growing continuous According to the UN report er,” he said. ed Nations World Tourism in terms of education and the tourists that Europeans age and a tour operator, ly for over a decade and Halter on world tourism, Chinese Organization (UNWTO), use of modern technology. could have in mind if they towards individual tourism said the tendency “will contin tourists spent $258 billion on XINHUA