When you think of marketing rural resources from China's countryside, you might not think of tourism, but these are changing times, and the local government most definitely classifies the mountains and minorities as travel worthy "resources." Sounds strange to me, but let's look into it.
Regardless of whether you really want to call it a resource or not, tourism is a big thing in these small places. Nearby Guilin is one of China's biggest tourist attractions, and is the best example of the type of tourism most prevalent in Southwest China: scenery and nationalities.
Initially, I was translating the Sanjiang County Investment Guide's information about local tourism for this entry, but the overly descriptive Chinese text showering Sanjiang with beauties no English dictionary could handle, I decided to save that for another day. To sum it up, I would say it this way: Sanjiang has beautiful places to see and very interesting folk culture to enjoy.
The tourism industry reaches China's countryside right were the the economic boost is needed the most: villages. Because the tourists that frequent China's Southwest rural areas are looking for the remote locations and "untouched" people groups, they end up heading out to the smallest of villages, and inevitably spending their money there too.
This is not the place to comment on the truck loads of cheap trinkets availble, but for those visitors who actually do want to buy, that is money pumping directly into very poor areas. Foreign tourists often are interested in buying local fabrics and clothing, instruments, and more traditional fare, and that money is going straight to the average Chinese peasant.
The most frequent visitors to Sanjiang tend to be from the Netherlands (or Holland if you prefer), France, and Japan. Though Chinese tourists are probably the biggest number. The Sanjiang Investment Guide reports over 220,000 visits per year from domestic and foreign visitors!
So, with all that in mind, I guess the people and places in Sanjiang are a "tourable" resource. And as such, it fits within the scope of New Frontier China's vision to "develop and market China's rural resources." Now, what can be done?
