Pingliang, a remote city in inland Gansu Province in Northwest China, plans to further develop its tourism resources to speed up local economic growth.

Located at the converging point of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, "the 1,600-year-old city enjoys rich tourism resources with special characteristics that attract visitors from all over the world," said Li Xiaolin, mayor of Pingliang.

With 465 ancient cultural ruins, 55 ancient tombs, 12 ancient town ruins, 8 ancient grottoes, 5 ancient pagodas and more than 10,000 cultural relics, Pingliang is one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture, Li said.

And Kongtong Mountain, 11 kilometres west of the city seat, is a special scenic spot with natural, cultural, historical and geological characteristics.

"It has been famous since remote ancient times," Li said. "And 5,000 years ago, Huangdi, the legendary founder of the Chinese nation, learned ways to run a state while on the mountain where 42 famous ancient buildings still stand."

To make full use of these rich tourism resources, the local government has been paying more attention to the construction of the Kongtong Mountain scenic zone, which is planned to be 83.59 square kilometres, the mayor said.

At present, 14 square kilometres of scenic zone with better tourism facilities have been put into operation, and the local government plans to invest 32 million yuan (US$3.9 million) this year to further improve the tourism conditions on the mountain, Li said.

In recent years, Pingliang worked hard to better its urban facilities and service conditions, such as construction of power and water supplies, telecommunication, sewage and garbage disposal, road, hotels and real estates, Li said.

Later this year, an urban heating system with an investment of 100 million yuan (US$12.1 million) will be built, and by the end of 2003 when the project is completed, the city will no longer have any coal boilers that cause air pollution, he said.

The central government praised Pingliang's efforts. In 1994, Kongtong Mountain was listed as a State-level scenic spot. Last year the spot was approved as an AAAA tourism spot by the State Tourism Administration, the mayor said.

"We received 598,000 overseas and domestic visitors last year and gained 171 million yuan (US$20.6 million) from tourism, which greatly promoted other industries and local economic development," he said.

( China Daily May 8, 2002)