Yichang’s beauty lies in its wonderful landscape.

　　The magnificent Xiling Gorge is the longest one among the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. Its peculiar geological features also make Yichang an important tourism destination at the Three Gorges.

　　People in Yichang show their wisdom and imagination in the construction of a tourism city: cultural and creative elements are integrated into the natural sceneries; static landscape is mixed with dynamic content; beautiful legends are put on the stage in tourist areas. In recent years, innovative tourism in Yichang developed rapidly, and the Three Gorges Dam, the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site and Qingjiang River Gallery Scenic Resort are in the list of National 5A-class Scenic Spot with their beautiful natural scenery and creative culture. In the rankings of the National 5A-class Scenic Spot, Yichang, Luoyang and Guilin are the leading cities among the prefecture-level cities. "The most significant feature in Yichang is the tourism". The Yichang tourism economy has been promoted and it has been proposed that the tourism output value should amount to over 100 billion by 2016. To realize the goal, innovative tourism thinking is pushed to attract visitors. In April, passengers from all over the country came to Yichang by tour trains. It is estimated that more than 30 tour trains will arrive in Yichang in 2014.

　　Beautiful sceneries with Tujia culture can be seen in the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site, Qingjiang River Gallery Scenic Resort is as beautiful as a painting. It is the innovative thinking that reshapes Yichang into a charming and modern tourist destination.

　　Creative culture is dotted with natural culture.

　　There is a sharp turn when the Yangtze River rushes to the Shipai reach of Xiling Gorge, so it gets the name "First Bay of Three Gorges", and it is also known as the Bright Moon Gorge since the shape looks like the moon.

　　Numerous cliffs and odd-shaped stones can be found on both sides of the Bright Moon Gorge. Extraordinary sceneries like Shadow Play Stone, Longjin Brook and the Village of King Ba are all in the Bright Moon Gorge.

　　In the War of Resistance Against Japan, Shipai battle took place in the Bright Moon Gorge. The Chinese people fought against the Japanese army from stepping into Chongqing and destroyed their criminal intention.

　　Based on the natural resources of the Bright Moon Gorge, the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site integrates Ba culture and Chu culture. The developer is the first one to combine natural beauty with historical culture, setting up a visual-effect and experience-effect ecological folk custom scenic spot and creating a model scenic spot of creative cultural tourism.

　　Li Hong, Deputy General Manager of the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site, holds that culture is the soul of scenic spots, and only the stage-effect culture can attract tourists and expand the influence of scenic spots.

　　Streams like Longjin Brook can be seen everywhere in the Three Gorges of Yangtze River, while developers of the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site built it into a hot attraction under the guidance of innovative thinking.

　　On both sides of Longjin Brook, there are traditional stilt houses. Walking along the wooden road of Longjin Brook, you can enjoy such sights: young girls are singing with their beloved ones; old sailing boats and black-awning boats are quietly paddled; young Tujia girls are sitting on the boat with traditional red attire. Green valley, flowing streams, dark stilt houses seem to be lively because of the bright young girls.

　　The wedding ceremony is so happy and festive that tourists enjoy it very much.

　　The Village of King Ba is said to be the home of the last king of Ba people. The wooden building and stone village featured with ancient Ba culture are reconstructed in the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site. There are old songs and dances, manual coppersmith and silversmith, straw sandal artists and handcraft workshop, you can both enjoy the ancient Ba culture and DIY in the workshop.

　　The existence of creative culture greatly deepens the tourists’ feelings and experience of the scenic area. The traditional way of just simply looking around and taking pictures has been changed into a more pleasant way. This new creative style has pushed the development of the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site, and the growth rate of tourists has reached to 30% every year.

　　The rapid development of the Three Gorges Folk Custom Tourist Site greatly promoted the development of surrounding rural areas from agricultural economy to tourist economy. Wang Hua, the secretary of the Party committee of Sandouping Town, Yiling District said: opening a restaurant, setting up a stall, carrying a basket and earning money have become a new way of life that enriches the local farmers’ families.

　　Innovative Thinking Help to Build A Tourist City With Over 100 Billion Yuan Output Value

　　The tourism in Yichang used to be mainly the serial tour to the Three Gorges, the Three Gorges Dam and the Three Gorges Tribe Scenic Spot. In early 2013, Yichang Municipal Party Committee and Yichang Municipal Government proposed that six industries with the output value of over 100 billion yuan should be built in 2016, and the cultural tourism industry is one of them. The purpose of building a cultural tourism industry that has an output value of over 100 billion yuan is to upgrade the tourism industry in Yichang from scenic tour to city tour, making Yichang the destination city of the Three Gorges tourism as well as the top-level landscape tourism city in China and the famous hydropower and tourist city in the world.

　　At present, the "significant platform" for the building of cultural tourism industry with the output value of over 100 billion yuan - the new district of the Three Gorges tourism are been constructed in an orderly way.

　　The core areas of the new district of the Three Gorges tourism are "Two Dams, Two Islands and One Gorge". "Two Dams" are the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Hydropower Projects; "Two Islands" means the Xiba Dam and the Pinghu Peninsula.

　　"One Gorge" means regional scenic spots that centers on the Three Gorges, including Jiangjiamiao Village, Letianxi Town, Taipingxi Town, Sandouping Town in Yiling District and Niuzhaping Village in Dianjun District. These regions contain more than 66% of Yichang’s tourist resources and take more than 70 % of the tourists.

　　In the planning and construction of a tourist city with the output value of over 100 billion yuan, the entire city should be regarded as a tourist landscape which is filled with elements of tourism innovation. Among the projects to be initiated this year in the new district of the Three Gorges tourism, there are the Moji Hill tourism complex, the Three Gorges Ancient Town, the Three Gorges Ecosystem Conservation Center, the Three Gorges Project Museum, the Three Gorges Cruise Ship Center and the Huanglingmiao Visitor Centre, etc.

　　The follow-up projects are the ski area, skating area and ice and snow sightseeing area in the Three Gorges Dam Ice and Snow World and the water recreation facilities such as sand beach, sea wave pool and river drifting in the Three Gorges Dam Water Space.

　　Among the projects in the new district of the Three Gorges tourism, the Pinghu Peninsula project is of the most exciting and fascinating one. Pinghu is a peninsula that extends to the Yangtze River from the urban area of Yichang City. Embracing a broad vision and beautiful sceneries, it is the only "Virgin Lands" along the Yangtze River in urban areas with an area of over 100 square kilometers. In August 2012, the initiation of the rebuilding of shanty areas in Pinghu Peninsula and the houses demolition in Three Gorges Cruise Ship Centre was official launched. In the future, the tourist resort facilities such as theme hotels, featured blocks and cruise ship center will be built in Pinghu Peninsula. Setting forth from Pinghu Peninsula, visitors can visit Yichang, Enshi, Chongqing and Shennongjia, and the Three Gorges Cruise Ship Center, therefore, will be the home port of the Three Gorges Tourism with a strong radiating power.

　　Innovative Thinking Leads to the Creation of the Brand “Falling in Love with Yichang”

　　In the development of tourist economy in Yichang in recent years, innovative thinking is everywhere, such as tourism product innovation, tourism cultural innovation and tourism marketing innovation.

　　In 2012, after a comprehensive analysis of the tourist resources in Yichang, the tourism authority of Yichang established a tourism marketing brand called “Falling in Love with Yichang” and forged a city and tourism marketing union “Falling in Love with Yichang” with 7 key tourist sites and Yichang Transportation Enterprise Group. The union has held 207 community square dancing matches themed “Falling in Love with Yichang and Dancing for a Flourishing Three Gorges ” in 52 cities across China and there have been millions of participants and audiences.

　　“Dancing for a Flourishing Three Gorges” is not only about dancing, but also about “Falling in Love with Yichang”.

　　The brand “Falling in Love with Yichang” integrated historic and tourist resources such as the magnificent Three Gorges, the smooth lakes and the narrow gorges, the picturesque Qingjiang River, the Xiajiang Haozi (a work song sung to synchronize movements with one person leading), the Quyuan’s Hometown, the the Zhaojun Village and the historic site of Guanyu so that the visitors will introduce “Falling in Love with Yichang” to others and more tourist resources can be exploited. In 2003, when the tourist industries in China faced with a recession, the tourists number in Yichang increased, leading to a rise in tourist income.

　　Currently, Yichang is making preparations for the Zhaojun Cultural Festival 2014 and one of the important activities of this festival is Retracing the Route: Zhaojun’s Marriage Route to Huns. The route is from Yichang to Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, passing through Henan Provinces and Shaanxi Provinces and so on. In the retracing route, there will be historical and cultural inspections as well as the tourism introduction of Yichang. More importantly, the experts and scholars of this activity will search for more historical and cultural relics of Zhaojun so that the cultural content of tourism related to Zhaojun can be enriched and the influence of Yichang’s tourist resources product related to Zhaojun can be enlarged.

　　It is widely believed the development of tourist economy has benefited much from innovative thinking in the tourism marketing. The tourism marketing theme of Falling in Love with Yichang runs through each high-end festivals that are held in Yichang, such as the China International Folk Art Festival, the China Three Gorges International Tourism Festival and the Yichang Yangtze River Piano Festival. Falling in Love with Yichang, therefore, has now become a tourism marketing brand that enjoys a nationwide fame.