THE ROUTE TO NATURE

Weihai, a coastal city of Shandong province, has built a 1,001-kilometer route that strings together picturesque coastal and mountainous landscapes to further develop its tourism sector and rural areas.

Put into service in May last year, it has a main highway and branch roads, of the same length. The 501-km main route goes along the coastline and runs across the mountains. The 500-km branch roads can take visitors to more than 90 percent of the city's tourism attractions, including scenic spots, hotels, RV campsites, homestays and agricultural sightseeing sites.

Among the attractions are four ski resorts, nine natural hot springs, 15 national-level marine ranches and more than 80 agricultural tourism sites.

This summer, Zhang Guoliang and his family spent three days of their vacation in Weihai.

"We drove to the city to escape the heat, but what we experienced was much more than what we had expected," says the 43-year-old Zhang from Jining, a city in southwestern Shandong.

The Zhangs went fishing at a marine ranch, visited a tea farm, stayed in a seaweed-thatched house and enjoyed watching the starry sky on crystal clear nights.

"My son learned a great deal about sea creatures, and he was impressed by the seaweed house, whose rooftop is piled up with dried seaweed and layered with wheat straw," says Zhang, adding that they stayed one more day than they had planned.

"We had a very nice experience driving along the highway," he says.

The highway has made travel across Weihai more convenient and it has brought an increased number of visitors to the city, says Wang Hongchen, an official of the culture and tourism bureau of Rongcheng, a county-level city of Weihai.

Along the highway, signs are set at major points. Every 30 to 40 km along the route, there is a park with public facilities where people can enjoy outdoor leisure time.

"Over 70 percent of tourists that visited Rongcheng this summer drove to our city and over half of the total tourists to Rongcheng are from outside Shandong province," says Wang.

The highway has not only enriched tourist experience but also energized rural areas.

Rongcheng has built more than 50 rural tourist sites that can be reached by driving along the highway, attracting a large number of visitors to experience rural life, says Wang.

The village of Yandunjiao in Rongcheng whose history dates back more than 400 years, has benefited from the convenient transportation.

In the village, which has around 500 households, more than 50 families provide bed-and-breakfast services.

Yu Haiyang, a native of Yandunjiao, now runs four homestay houses at the village.

"The time-honored, seaweed-roofed houses, the elegant swans, the ocean, the local food and the good environment — all of these are what people dream of," says Yu.

In Rushan, a county-level city of Weihai, the highway has been taking more local agricultural products to more markets.

"The highway has linked our town with the overall development of the city, bringing tourists and taking our agricultural products to more markets," says Feng Meigui, Party secretary of Nanhuang town of Rushan.

A tea project at Rushan's Nanhuang town has 65 hectares to grow tea and other crops. It also has advanced facilities to produce tea.

"Many tourists, especially students come here to learn the tea culture. They can also learn farming work at our base," says Xu Bin, who is in charge of the town's tea project.

"We aim to build the base into one integrating the functions of tourism, entertainment, field study and product promotion. In this way, our products will gain more markets, which will bring a higher income to local farmers, as well as to our project," says Xu.

Local statistics showed the income of farmers in the villages along the route has grown year-on-year by around 10 percent.

The highway makes Weihai a whole tourism zone where the urban areas and rural areas are well-connected, according to Sui Jianbo, head of the culture and tourism bureau of Weihai.

"It's a road to vitalize the rural areas," says Sui.

Filip Esprit, a Belgian who runs a chocolate shop in Sunjiatuan, a town in Weihai, speaks highly of the highway and the rural development in Weihai.

"Every village is very accessible now, and the villages have transformed into green gardens. There is beautiful scenery all around, with reforestation and greening, and the architecture is all renewed," says Esprit.

Wang Jing, a resident in Qingdao, Shandong province, has put Weihai travel on her family's plan for the National Day holiday. "Due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we prefer nearby travel and Weihai is a good choice," says Wang Jing.

"Both are coastal cities. There are different views and customs between Qingdao and Weihai, and my children will experience the differences by themselves," she says.