Tourism is booming in the county of Dabu, in the city of Meizhou, Guangdong province, with the number of tourists increasing by 33.8 percent, to 1.2 million, and tourism revenue reaching 700 million yuan ($117 million), from this January to September, according to statistics.

The county has been constantly working on combining culture with tourism in recent years. A number of new tourist routes, such as the Hakka culture tour, ecology tour, patriot tour and rural tour, have attracted more visitors from home and abroad.

The local government will invest more in tourism infrastructure and tourist products in the next phase. Several hospitality projects, including Hongbao International and Jade Villa, will start construction successively. The planning of Shuanji Mountain Culture Tourism Industry Park and Wanfu Temple Culture Tourism District is taking shape, and the Ruishan Mountain Ecology Resort project will be completed soon.

Baihou Tourist Town and Zhang Bishi Memorial House became a national AAA tourist attractions this year.

The Chinese mainland has adopted a tourist attraction rating system to assess the importance of sites, transportation and tours, as well as issues related to safety, cleanliness and sanitation. A or 1A is the lowest level and AAAAA or 5A is the highest.

Edited by Michael Thai