Yichang City, as the throat of Sichuan and Hubei Province down the ages, is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Thanks to the construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project and Three Gorges Water Control Project, it has prospered itself twice.

　　What becomes the new opportunity for Yichang after its investment boom brought about by those projects?

　　The Scheme for Accelerating the Development of Pivotal Port was passed last month by Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government of Yichang City. The idea of “prospering the city through the development of its port, co-prosperity of the port and the city” marks the prelude to grand-port era.

　　The Number of Visitors Enjoys Year-on-year Growth by Sixty PercentCruise economy shall make a breakthrough.

　　Yichang, as well as Chongqing, spares no efforts to develop sightseeing resources on the water.

　　The visitor Zhao Quanzhi, along with his four family members from Shaoyang City of Hunan Province, boarded the sightseeing cruise on August 30 to visit the Three Gorges Dam, the Gezhouba Dam and the Xiling Gorge. Departing from the visitors’ center and passing the Gezhouba Ship Lock, this sightseeing cruise finally docked Sandouping Wharf or Huangling Temple Wharf via several stops in the specialized wharfs for scenic spots.

　　Hua Shanshan, the Marketing Assistant Manager of Tourist Transportation Department in Yichang Transportation Group introduced that the cruise was the most advanced for short-term tourism with a cost of twenty million RMB and a tourist area of nearly two thousand square meters.

　　On the Yangtze River, the cruises are mainly sailing in the Three Gorges Section. The cruises are welcomed by the citizens for its cheap ticket less than 300 RMB, compared with high price of foreign luxurious ones.

　　Hua Shanshan also introduced that since “the eight regulations” were issued, the passenger flow of up-market tourist route has plummeted. Meanwhile, the passenger flow of mass consumption routes has increased by sixty percent year-on-year, including forty percent of tourists driving here from other provinces.

　　Taking advantage of the Golden Waterway and the cruise economy, Yichang is trying to get rid of transit sightseeing and turn itself into a travel destinationPrepared to be built on the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Huangbaihe River, the Three Gorges Cruise Center is also called “the Home Port of Yangtze Cruises” for its multi-functions, such as ship supplement, sightseeing, transition and the publishing of tourism information.

　　Building a Bonded Logistic Zone to Develop Yunchi PortBeing the preferred port of foreign trade in Yichang, Yuchi Port is located in the south of Xiaoting District with an area of 80 hectares.

　　Pang Xiaobo, the Vice General Manager of Yichang Port Group said that we have established business cooperation with more than fifty large enterprises, such as the chemical enterprises, represented by Yihua Co., Ltd. and Xingfa Co., Ltd., the ceramics export enterprises, represented by Yichang Changjiang Ceramic Co., Ltd. and Yidu Huiyi Ceramic Co., Ltd., and textile enterprises, represented by Allmed Medical Products Co., Ltd. and Guangsheng Textile Co., Ltd. In the last two years, the port has saved the logistics cost more than fifty million RMB for the local enterprises each year.

　　Yunchi Port’s take-off is closely related to the cooperation of the cities along the Yangtze River.

　　Pang Xiaobo introduced that besides the through ship from Yichang to Shanghai, Yuchi Port also provided the water transfer from Yichang to Yangshan and transferred in Wuhan. Taking the advantage of initial liner and intermediate center, Yunchi Port connected with Wanzhou Port and Chongqing Port upstream and cooperated with Jiujiang Port, Yueyang Port and Jingzhou Port downstream to make the container transfer to Sichuan and Chongqing more efficiently.

　　In the first seven months this year, the throughput of standard cases has reached to 63.6 thousand with an increase of 53.3 percent and the number of initial liners is 207 with an increase of 45.7 percent year-on-year.

　　Liu Jingsong, the General Manager of Import and Export Department in AngelYeast Co., Ltd., said that the formation of a water-railway comprehensive transport would further decrease enterprises’ logistics cost when the completion of the second phase of the port’s project and the special line of Ziyun Railway put into use.

　　So far, Yuchi New Port possesses four 5,000-ton berths with the traffic capacity of 400,000 standard cases. The next step of the port is to turn the port into a bonded logistic zone soon and a grand-port with million standard cases.

　　Building a Multimodal Logistics Zone to Meet New Business OpportunityA new business opportunity is discovered from the event that the Shiplock of Three Gorges Dam has reached its maximum traffic capability twenty years ahead of time.

　　Hu Zhaohui, the Deputy Director of Yichang Transportation Bureau, introduced that in order to make Three Gorges Hub Port (a general name for important ports cluster of Yichang) into a fulcrum between Chongqing and Wuhan Shipping Centers, we will base on the full speed of passing the dam and build a multimodal transport system.

　　As the planning suggests, featured by the dam-passing transfer and Three Gorges Tourism, Three Gorges Hub Port will build ten integrative logistics zone, including Three Gorges( Zigui) Maoping Logistics Zone, Taipingxi Logistics Zone and Yunchi Logistics Zone.

　　Xiong Wenchong, the Director of the Logistics Office of Yichang Development and Reform Commission, said that the purpose of building Zigui Dam-passing Logistics Zone is to introduce the products of Chongqing and Sichuan, processed and upgraded in Yichang and then distribute to other places.

　　(Reported by Liang Xiaoying, Jiang Meng, Cheng Rongxing)