Recently, the fourth season (Zhuolu sub-venue) of the 2nd Zhangjiakou Tourism Industry Development Conference was successfully concluded. A series of activities made stunning debuts, with frequent good news emerging. Especially, the successful hosting of the conference’s closing ceremony attracted collective attention and continuous coverage from many top-tier domestic media, once again drawing social focus and discussion to this small Beijing-adjacent city of Zhuolu. Its historical significance and cultural heritage have become topics of renewed conversation.
It is understood that the 2nd Zhangjiakou Tourism Industry Development Conference opened on August 17, adopting a “conference season” model spanning 30 days, with one theme each weekend over four consecutive weeks. The conference activities focused on deepening the supply-side structural reform of tourism, highlighting the direction of all-for-one tourism development. Breaking administrative boundaries, the event integrated high-quality resources and was jointly hosted by seven counties and districts along the Sanggan River and Yanghe River basins. It showcased Zhangjiakou’s profound history and cultural richness, painting a vibrant picture of the Sangyang River Valley tourist resort area. As the confluence of the Sanggan and Yanghe rivers, Zhuolu County, leveraging its unique geographical advantages, took on the important task of hosting the conference’s closing ceremony, perfectly concluding the month-long tourism development conference.
Zhuolu makes the list of National Garden Counties selected by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development
Zhuolu boasts a long history and profound cultural heritage, being one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Over 5,000 years ago, the legendary ancestors of the Chinese nation—the Yellow Emperor, the Yan Emperor, and Chiyou—lived, formed alliances, and integrated here, pioneering the history of Chinese civilization. The renowned historian Gu Jiegang once commented, “Civilization began in Zhuolu,” highlighting Zhuolu’s status in Chinese history. Today, the Huangyangshan National Forest Park and the Dongxi Lingshan Ecotourism Area form a natural ecological landscape. Zhuolu has become a well-known leisure, vacation, summer retreat, ancestral worship, and sightseeing destination in western Beijing. A National Garden City is a title awarded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to cities with balanced distribution, rational structure, comprehensive functions, beautiful landscapes, and fresh, comfortable, safe, and pleasant living environments—one of China’s important urban brands. Currently, three counties in Zhangjiakou have been honored as National Garden Counties, with Zhuolu ranking at the top.
“Building Nests to Attract Phoenixes”: Zhuolu Signs Five New Major Projects
For years, to attract more external capital and industries, Zhuolu has continuously “built nests to attract phoenixes,” improving the investment environment, introducing preferential policies, and significantly enhancing infrastructure construction. This has turned the area into a picturesque, comfortable, livable, and business-friendly destination, attracting more people to invest and start businesses. On September 9, at the DahuajianGuo Hotel conference hall, Zhuolu County seized the opportunity of the tourism conference to hold an investment promotion and project signing ceremony. Five key projects were successfully signed, covering regional ecotourism development, comprehensive development of the urban water system, and the construction of cultural characteristic towns. The signing ceremony injected new vitality into Zhuolu’s economy, accelerating its progress on the path of successful transformation in the tourism and cultural industries. The county continues to emphasize industrial integration, boosting tourism-driven economic growth and injecting strong momentum into all-for-one tourism development.
The Huangdi City Ruins Cultural Tourism Area Revives Humanistic Memory
As a legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, the Yellow Emperor holds a pivotal position in Chinese civilization. Zhuolu is a historically verified key activity area of the Yellow Emperor’s tribe, where historical sites such as Huangdi City, Huangdi Spring, and Xuanyuan Lake remain. To reshape Yellow Emperor culture and revive humanistic memory, Zhuolu invested 700 million yuan to develop the Huangdi City Ruins Cultural Tourism Area, which made its debut during the tourism conference. The area integrates resources from three zones: Huangdi City Scenic Area, Fanshan Town, and the Huangdi City Low-Carbon Cultural Tourism Town. Eighteen key projects were developed, including the DahuajianGuo Hotel, Zhuolu Museum, Xuanyuan Lake Wooden Boardwalk, Huangdi City Ruins Park, and the Low-Carbon Cultural Tourism Town. It has not only become a unique scenic spot in Zhuolu but also a sacred place for Chinese descendants at home and abroad to honor their ancestors and cherish the past.
The “Tire Kingdom” Children’s Theme Park Delights Young Minds
Focusing on parent-child activities, the “Tire Kingdom” Children’s Theme Park features 18 differently themed experience zones, including a picking garden, go-kart track, children’s sandbox, family kitchen, kids’ pond, Fantaspeed go-karts, archery zone, and Maya Beach. The park aims to create a family-friendly destination integrating children’s play and parent-child interaction. Located in Fanshan Town, Zhuolu County, the 300-acre park combines “educational science exploration, tire fun, go-kart adventures, and farm picking.” It serves as Zhuolu County’s pilot project for beautiful countryside development and is Zhangjiakou’s only outdoor tire-themed park. It is also an outdoor parent-child and primary/secondary school study tour base for western Beijing. On its opening day, September 8, over 8,000 visitors entered to enjoy the park. Here, children not only build courage and enhance intelligence while having fun, ensuring healthy and happy growth, but parents also get more opportunities for bonding, giving their kids a beautiful childhood.
Tencent Collaborates with Chinese Academy of Sciences to Build Smart All-for-One Tourism Big Data
During the tourism conference, a smart tourism system jointly developed by Tencent and the Chinese Academy of Sciences was launched and debugged at the Zhuolu Huangdi City Tourist Distribution Center. This smart all-for-one tourism big data solution is based on Tencent’s leading location big data product. The data sources come from positional data generated by mobile apps such as WeChat, QQ, Tencent Maps, and Tencent-affiliated services like Didi and Mobike. After cleaning, integrating, aggregating, and modeling through the big data platform, these sources form a comprehensive smart tourism application based on crowd movement location information. It provides precise user profiling analysis—such as analyzing the age, gender, spending power, and education level distribution of tourists, as well as their origins. Through the analysis of real and comprehensive big data on tourist flow, distribution, and crowd profiles, it strongly promotes scientific tourism decision-making and accelerates rapid economic development.
Large-Scale Interactive Film-Based Live Performance “Zhuoshui · Lushan” Debuts
On the evening of September 9, the large-scale interactive film-based live performance “Zhuoshui · Lushan” made its first appearance at the closing ceremony of the tourism conference. Its novel format and rich cultural content amazed the thousands of live audience members. Lasting 70 minutes and involving nearly 300 performers, the show was directed by Mr. Li Jianwu, a member of the 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony directing team, and was custom-made for Zhuolu. The performance is divided into four acts: the first act is “Harmony of Will – Opening Mountains and Carving Waters,” the second is “Wisdom of Harmony – Blessed Mountains and Auspicious Waters,” the third is “Affection of Harmony – Emotional Mountains and Righteous Waters,” and the fourth is “Unity of Heart – Green Mountains and Clear Waters.” It recreates Zhuolu’s landscapes and culture through a new visual and live interaction fusion, becoming a highlight of the tourism conference. As a signature performing arts event, it will remain a regular attraction in Zhuolu’s tourism offerings, continuing to delight visitors in the future.
“2018 China · Zhuolu Sanggan River Cultural Tourism Festival” Extends the Spirit of the Tourism Conference
As the mother river of the Zhuolu people, the Sanggan River nourishes the fertile land along its banks and has fostered the region’s long-standing culture. To maintain local ecosystem diversity and pass on the city’s millennia-old cultural heritage, Zhuolu has developed the Sanggan River Tourist Scenic Area along a 10-kilometer stretch of the river in the urban area. The area includes the Ding Ling Academy, children’s playground, football field, basketball court, gateball court, and hosts eight zones: Sanggan River Culture Exhibition, Wetland Park Education, Boardwalk Leisure, Wedding Expo, Cultural Corridor, Sangtian Flower Sea, Sports and Leisure, and Themed Wooden Cabins. There are also five plazas: Ding Ling Culture, Water Affinity, Sanggan Poetry Grove, Sunshine Stairs, and Treasure of Nature, along with a colorful asphalt leisure walkway. Through orderly landscaping, the area enjoys suitable greenery year-round, creating an environment with flowers in spring, shade in summer, fruit in autumn, and greenery in winter—scenic in all seasons and lush all year. In 2017, it was certified as a provincial-level water conservancy scenic area by the Hebei Provincial Department of Water Resources and rated as a three-star park by the Hebei Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
The “2018 China · Zhuolu Sanggan River Cultural Tourism Festival,” based in the Sanggan River Tourist Scenic Area—Binhe Park, is organically integrated with the 2nd Tourism Development Conference, further extending its cultural depth and allowing the area’s long-standing cultural charm to gain widespread recognition. More people can now enjoy its beautiful and pleasant leisure ecological environment. During the tourism conference, the Sanggan River Tourist Scenic Area received an average of over 7,000 visitors per day.
In the future, whether one seeks to “Enjoy Zhuoshui Lushan · Relish the Countryside” or to explore the “Ancient Civilization · Root-Seeking Journey,” Zhuolu will continue to develop premium tourism routes such as the Huangdi City Ruins Cultural Tourism Area – Sanggan River Tourist Scenic Area. To continuously enhance the influence and reputation of the two major brands—“Ancient Civilization Begins in Zhuolu” and “Thousand-Mile Sanggan Enriches Zhuolu”—the area will fully promote integrations of culture and tourism, agriculture and tourism, health and tourism, sports and tourism, commerce and tourism. It will create premium tourism projects, enrich new tourism formats, advance all-for-one tourism development, and aim to establish itself as a destination for studying traditional Chinese culture through tourism and a western Beijing ecotourism and wellness resort. This ancient land will continue to shine brightly, regaining its vibrant energy and becoming a true pearl of western Beijing.