Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Tourism Area

Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Tourism Area

The Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Tourism Area is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

The Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Eco-Tourism Area is located in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province, with a planned total area of 17,000 mu. It is a rural tourism destination that combines cultural experiences, wellness retreats, sports and leisure, and agricultural activities. The area includes a modern agricultural industrial park, sightseeing lemon plantations, leisure fruit-picking orchards, children’s amusement parks, beautiful new villages, ethnic-style ancient streets, and wellness centers.

The Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Eco-Tourism Area is situated 10 kilometers southwest of Anyue County, Ziyang City, Sichuan Province, adjacent to the Anyue exit of the Chengdu–Anyue–Chongqing Expressway. It lies at the heart of the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Zone, midway between the two major cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. The area is just one and a half hours’ drive from both Chengdu and Chongqing, and about 40 minutes from Neijiang and Suining. Covering a planned total area of 17,000 mu, it includes a modern agricultural industrial park, sightseeing lemon plantations, leisure fruit-picking orchards, children’s amusement parks, beautiful new villages, ethnic-style ancient streets, and wellness centers. It is a rural tourism destination integrating cultural experiences, wellness retreats, sports and leisure, and agricultural activities.

Anyue County, where the Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Tourism Area is located, straddles the watershed between the Tuojiang and Fujiang rivers. The region enjoys a mild climate, abundant rainfall, ample sunshine, and a long frost-free period, which have fostered the development of high-yield, premium-quality new lemon cultivars. Anyue lemons have won multiple national awards for excellence and received a gold medal at the Thailand International Fruit Expo. The county is the top lemon producer in China, accounting for 80% of the nation’s total lemon output. It is the country’s only dedicated commercial lemon production base and has been honored as the “Lemon Capital of China.”

Anyue County boasts a profound cultural heritage and has been home to many notable individuals. Its stone carvings, bamboo weaving, and Qu opera are renowned far and wide. Anyue is home to the highest concentration of ancient Buddhist sculpture sites in China. Over 300 grotto sites with more than 100,000 statues have been discovered, particularly notable for the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty sculptures and the exquisite craftsmanship of those from the Song Dynasty. These hold a significant place in the history of Chinese stone carving art, bridging the styles of the Yungang and Longmen grottoes and influencing the later Dazu Rock Carvings. In 2000, the county was designated as the “Hometown of Chinese Stone Carving” by the Ministry of Culture. The statues are celebrated for their beauty of form, image, and presence, with a stunning variety of poses. The world-renowned author Han Suyin once praised the “Purple Bamboo Guanyin” statue as the “Venus of the East.” Anyue Qu opera originated during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Building on traditional musical scores, it gradually incorporated elements from Peking opera, Sichuan opera, folk drama, and dance. Through generations of artists’ creativity and legacy, it developed a distinctive style that is rich, mellow, and balanced in tone. In 2014, Anyue Qu opera was listed as one of the fourth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative projects by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province.

The development of the Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Eco-Tourism Area fully leverages these advantageous resources. It deeply explores the cultural essence of Anyue lemons, stone carvings, bamboo weaving, and Qu opera, while also integrating the region’s rich local folk culture. By combining the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and through continuous investment in tourism infrastructure, the area’s facilities and services have steadily improved, landscape quality has been significantly enhanced, and reception capabilities have matured. To date, approximately 200 million yuan has been invested in the area’s development, covering 6,000 mu of land. This includes the creation of a 1,000-mu forest oxygen bar, 600 mu of standardized lemon orchards, 150 mu of high-quality fruit picking gardens, 200 mu of horticultural flower and seedling sightseeing bases, 40 mu of cultivated precious medicinal plants such as Dendrobium officinale, 200 mu of aquatic vegetable and fish farming demonstration bases, and 200 mu of landscaped greenery. In terms of resort facilities, 27 buildings totaling nearly 20,000 square meters have been constructed as wellness and vacation bases, along with a 1,200-square-meter leisure Mongolian yurt campsite and a multifunctional service hall covering approximately 4,000 square meters. Regarding tourism products, the area offers a children’s amusement park, water recreation base, picnic and barbecue zone, camping site, open-air teahouse, music plaza, helicopter pad, forest oxygen bar, and forest leisure cabins. Ongoing projects include an entrance commercial street, lemon-themed street, Anyue Stone Carving Exhibition Park, Baofeng Temple, eco-outdoor hotpot, floral cultivation center, organic fruit and vegetable growing base, leisure bar, youth practice base, and a large fitness center.

The development of the Baosen Agricultural and Forestry Eco-Tourism Area has generated significant social benefits and effectively boosted the local economy. On one hand, the area provides numerous job opportunities for local residents, who benefit through employment within the scenic zone, engaging in tourism-related businesses, and leasing land. On the other hand, it has greatly improved the living environment. The area has built 86 residences featuring architectural styles characteristic of eastern Sichuan, with neat front and back courtyards, well-arranged vegetable patches, and orderly wooden fences. Natural gas, running water, and flush toilets have been extended to every household. The sewage network is comprehensive, with a 100% treatment rate for domestic wastewater. All waste is managed through a “household collection, village gathering, town transport, and district processing” system. Additionally, projects for lighting, greening, beautification, and purification have been carried out in parallel.

In 2017, leveraging the area’s unique agricultural products, a series of events were held consecutively, including the Lemon Flower Festival (as a branch venue), Specialty Fruits (Grapes) Festival, Dendrobium officinale Harvest Festival, and the Intoxicating Lotus Viewing Festival. Activities such as grape adoption and dendrobium picking were used to deeply explore the cultural value of Dendrobium officinale, develop and market a series of dendrobium-related tourism products, and effectively promote wellness and retirement tourism resources. By setting up tourism traffic signs and conducting extensive publicity through radio, online media, and other channels, the area’s visibility and influence were further enhanced. The comprehensive income of the tourism area reached over 40 million yuan, effectively driving local economic development.

Currently, the landscape quality and service level of the tourism area have been greatly improved, and the brand influence of the scenic area has gradually strengthened. It has been recognized as a Key Leading Enterprise of Sichuan Province and an Outstanding Private Enterprise of Sichuan Province. Now, taking the successful establishment of a 3A-level tourism area as an opportunity, the area is steadily advancing and actively pursuing 4A-level status. The goal is to elevate the Baosen tourism brand and establish it as a well-known ecological tourism destination in Sichuan and Chongqing.

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