Taining in Fujian Attracts Tourists with Landscape and Culture, Boasting Strong Tourism Growth

Boating on Dajin Lake to admire red cliffs reflecting in clear waters, wandering along Shangshu Street to savour the ancient charm of Ming and Qing architecture, and visiting Jiulongtan at night to experience an immersive "fairyland" — this Spring Festival, Taining in Fujian Province drew tourists from all over the country with its unique natural and cultural appeal, offering them a poetic travel experience.

In recent years, taking the opportunity of applying for the title of National Historical and Cultural City, Taining has invested a total of 450 million yuan in refined upgrading of historical blocks such as Shangshu Lane and Jinshi Lane. With elaborate efforts, the county has not only preserved the ancient city style and retained its vibrant daily life, but also created more possibilities for cultural and tourism activities.

During holidays, performers of Meilin Opera, a local traditional opera listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, walk through the lanes in traditional costumes. Representative intangible cultural heritage items, including Shangqing Ancient Music, Nuo Dance, folk songs and Leicha (a traditional tea drink), are staged in turns. These once endangered traditional skills have now become popular spots for tourists to take photos and experience.

"I only saw Taining Ancient City in short videos before, and seeing it in person this Spring Festival was quite shocking," a tourist from Shanghai said. "It is not only full of ancient charm, but also offers interesting activities with profound cultural appeal. The Meilin Opera performance on stage was particularly wonderful, making my family and I feel as if we were in a drama story."

While upgrading its tourism infrastructure, Taining has also continuously optimized its services. Innovative projects such as the night tour along Shili Jinxi and hot air balloon low-altitude sightseeing around Dajin Lake have been launched one after another. Jiulongtan Scenic Area has added supporting facilities including a "Internet-famous Moon Ladder" photo spot, an electronic queuing system and a pier rest corridor, while Mao'er Mountain Scenic Area has renovated its walking paths and railings and equipped with camping facilities. An upsurge of upgrading tourist experience has quietly spread across Taining’s major traditional scenic spots.

In addition, focusing on areas of key concern to tourists such as catering and shopping, Taining’s scenic spots have also introduced new initiatives, developing a variety of characteristic cultural and creative products and food experience projects to better meet the consumption needs of different groups.

"We visited the Young Red Army Town, Gengdu Lijia Village, and specially went to Shuiji Village to taste organic fish. We had a very fulfilling holiday," a tourist from Xiamen, who traveled to Taining’s countryside with his family during the Spring Festival, said, adding that he still felt reluctant to leave when returning home.

In recent years, Taining has organically integrated local rural resources, excellent traditional culture and modern tourism needs, promoting in-depth integration of agriculture, culture and tourism. It has continuously upgraded characteristic villages such as high-quality tourism villages, Chitan Village and Wangkeng Village, vigorously developed rural tourist spots, and created diversified, characteristic and high-quality rural tourism products and routes, making the vast countryside a popular leisure destination for both tourists and local residents.

With ecology as its foundation, Taining has built an increasingly influential sports event brand. In 2025, the county successfully hosted a number of large-scale sports events, including the China Urban Youth Fencing Open, the Fujian Water Sports League (Finals) and the "Chess Encounter Taining · Seeking Tao in Mountains and Waters" International Go Invitational Tournament, attracting numerous sports enthusiasts to Taining for sports and leisure. Taking sports events as a link, Taining has continuously promoted in-depth integration of "sports + cultural tourism", transforming sports popularity into development momentum.

Data show that in 2025, Taining received 11.0452 million tourists and achieved a total tourism income of 9.423 billion yuan, successfully ranking 36th among the top 100 counties in China in terms of comprehensive competitiveness of cultural and tourism integration.