The 2017 Sichuan Rural Cultural Tourism Festival (Autumn) will open in mid-October in Xiangcheng County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

To make the host county Xiangcheng better known before the festival, a 15-member press corps from mainstream state media and provincial media visited the obscure locality from July 12 to 15.

The media tour focused on topics ranging from tourism in Tibetan-inhabited areas and poverty alleviation through tourism development to preparation for the October festival.

The National Tourism Work Conference, convened early this year, called for strengthening the development of rural tourism, red tourism and eco-tourism, and giving full play to tourism’s role in alleviating poverty and building a well-off society in an all-round way.

Xiangcheng intended the festival to serve as a vehicle for upgrading its rural tourism, fostering a rural tourism brand and enforcing rural tourism standardization, all of which have the common goal of boosting local economic development and increasing farmers’income.

Roughly 300 people, including government officials, renowned photographers, reporters from mainstream media, and representatives of self-driving clubs in Chengdu and Chongqing are expected to attend the festival.

The event will consist of various activities including a symposium on the protection of traditional Tibetan residential buildings, a large real-scene art show, an opening ceremony, a photo exhibition of Xiangcheng, an exhibition of tourism products and fruit picking.