Source::Xinhuanet
LHASA,
Peach blossoms in full bloom are not only gracing the spring in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, but also marking a strong start for tourism in the region this year. At the ongoing 19th peach blossom festival in the city of Nyingchi, tourists are swarming to different resorts known for their picturesque views of peach flowers with snow-capped mountains in the background.
"I have long been fascinated by Nyingchi's peach blossoms, and finally got a chance this year to come to Nyingchi with my friends," said Shu Lin, a tourist from southwest China's Sichuan Province visiting a small village called Kala. The village has been the venue for the opening ceremony of the festival for many years, as it has a vast number of peach trees, mostly wild, across its mountainous terrain. Some of its peach trees are more than 100 years old.
"This is really like a fairyland on earth. Snowy mountains, blue skies and peach blossoms complement one another with a rich spectrum of colors," said Shu. Last year, the event welcomed far fewer visitors due to COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Nyingchi saw its number of incoming tourists drop about 70 percent in the first half of 2020.
This year, however, the tourists are back. The opening ceremony was held on Saturday, and Nyingchi received 97,200 visitors, up 35.75 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Its tourism revenue has surged 32.6 percent from 2019 to 19.26 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars), according to the city's tourism development bureau.
In the first three days of the festival, the number of tourists rose 32.59 percent from 2019, while tourism revenue soared 96.83 percent from the same year, the bureau said. Zhang Rundong, the bureau's deputy Party chief, said the city has held a series of online and offline promotional activities to make the peach blossom festival "a highlight of tourism in Nyingchi and Tibet."
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