Jiaxing's ancient towns embrace innovation

Jiaxing, renowned for its rich history and picturesque water towns like Wuzhen and Xitang, hosted the "Discover Jiaxing's Ancient Towns" event on June 6. The gathering aimed to explore innovative strategies for preserving and revitalizing the cultural and tourism appeal of these historic sites.

Experts highlighted the collective and developmental strengths of Jiaxing's 18 canal-born towns. Despite their established "vacation town" appeal, challenges such as homogeneity in appearance and reliance on a single income source were recognized. Chen Xianghong, vice-president of the China Tourism Association, emphasized the need for higher management standards, especially in towns offering free admission.

Ctrip's data revealed a significant 24.5-percent increase in Jiaxing's travel bookings from January to June, predominantly by young travelers. Zhang Xu of Ctrip noted that visitors, mainly from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Beijing, are largely young people, with those born in the 1990s and 2000s comprising over half of the tourist demographic, reflecting Jiaxing's strong appeal to youth.

Zhou Jing from Jiaxing's cultural tourism radio and television bureau emphasized the city's commitment to preserving traditional lifestyles and culture while infusing new vitality into the ancient towns, aiming to solidify Jiaxing's position as a top cultural tourism destination.