The General Administration of Sport of China announced the first pilot distinctive towns for sports and recreation on Aug. 10, 2017. Gaolan Town of Xingshan County, featuring its distinctive outdoor sports and recreation, was on the list.

　　Outdoor sports and recreation are distinctive of Gaolan town, which enjoys a laudatory name “Ten-mile Gallery”. It takes only 1.5 hours to drive from Yichang city to Gaolan town. Furthermore, Gaolan boasts of its abundant tourism resources, including Chaotianhou River Rafting, Reclining Buddha Mountain, Peacock Valley and Zhaojun Village, and sports items such as mountain-climbing, rock-climbing, canyoneering, cycling and outward bound activities.

　　With sports and recreation as the theme, those distinctive towns are not only the areas with multiple functions such as sports, leisure, culture, health, tourism, old-age care and educational training, but also the platforms for national fitness and the bases of sport industry. (Journalist Pi Yajie)