BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Yandunjiao Village in east China's Shandong Province and six other Chinese villages were announced as Best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) at a meeting held in Cartagena, Colombia on November 15 Beijing Time.
The Best Tourism Villages project was launched by UN Tourism in 2021 to advance tourism's role in rural areas and in preserving landscapes, cultural diversity, local values, and culinary traditions.
Nestled at the eastern tip of Shandong's Rongcheng City, Yandunjiao has a rich history spanning over 600 years. This unique locale, surrounded by mountains and the sea, has fostered a vibrant fishing culture. It is particularly famous for its traditional seaweed houses characterized by stone walls and roofs made of seaweed. While these houses only exist in large numbers along the coast of Rongcheng, more than 1,300 complete seaweed rooms can be seen in this fishing village occupying an area of only one square kilometer, with the oldest one dating back 300-plus years.
Committed to protecting its ancient dwellings, the local government invests over 2 million yuan (about 276,222 U.S. dollars) annually in relevant house renovation projects.
Each winter, thousands of whooper swans fly from the cold north and enjoy their warmer stay at Yandunjiao, reflecting the community's respect for nature. As the rare breeding birds are strict with their habitat environment, to retain them, aquatic product processing plants, shipyards, and other enterprises have been relocated from Yandunjiao, and villagers keep the coastline clean every day. With improved ecological environment and care from the villagers, whooper swans flock into Yandunjiao, luring tourists and photography enthusiasts from all over the world to visit the village.
Staying at seaweed-roofed homestays and admiring whooper swans have become the quintessential tourism attractions of Yandunjiao, according to Wang Hongchen, director of Rongcheng cultural and tourism public service center.
Last year, the village received more than 500,000 tourist visits and generated a tourism revenue of over 20 million yuan (about 2,762,220 U.S. dollars), local government staff Jiang Yuting said.
(Edited by Su Dan with Xinhua Silk Road, sudan@xinhua.org)
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