Something to fit the fancy of all air events lovers

The international aeronautics festival is well underway in Laiwu, Shandong province and has tourists heading to the town in droves to get a look at the planes and air shows, with some of the world's leading stunt pilots performing.

Zhang Zhao, vice-director of management for the Xueye Lake Tourist Area, site of the festival, explained, "This annual festival has attracted a large number of air sports fans and visitors from China and abroad, making it one of the hot tourist destinations in Shandong."

Last year's aviation festival at Xueye Lake pulled in pilots from over 20 countries, including France, the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom, and more than 300,000 spectators.

In the first seven months of this year, the area had 1 million tourists, which brought in 200 million yuan ($31.3 million) in revenues.

By the end of this year, they are expected to see more than 2.2 million tourists in all, according to Zhang.

The Laiwu site is located 46 kilometers from the provincial capital, Jinan, and occupies a 239-square-kilometer area, with 70 percent covered by forests. The lake covers a 15-sq-km area.

It contains some well-preserved parts of the Great Wall built during the Qi kingdom (386-221 BC) during the Warring States Period and some old villages from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

It also contains more than 20 scenic spots and holiday resorts, including the Wenchang culture garden, a yacht club, the 20-km-long Jiulong canyon, and a modern agricultural technology park.

The air sports park is the permanent host of the air gala, which has State General Administration of Sports backing. The site covers a 120-hectare area and runs along the shore of Xueye Lake. It cost 450 million yuan to build and includes an airfield, training center and leisure areas.

"We're planning on building a water slide and are trying to make the park one of China's major air sports and training bases," said Zhang.

The air sports have also brought some good projects and investors to the area. Several international enterprises, such as the Evergrand Group, the Greentown Group, Joy International, and the Shandong Hi-speed Group have operations in Laiwu.

There are 20 projects underway to help develop the area's tourism in the mountainous parts, as well as its waterfalls, forests, caves, and springs.

One of the most popular sites now is the 10-billion-yuan scenic town on the lakeside. It covers a 3.6-million-sq-m area and has an aviation training center, air sports experience center, amusement parks, theater, eco-friendly residences, and a five-star hotel.

Work is also underway on a 12-sq-km industrial valley on the lake's north shore to be used as a research, development, and production center for aircraft.

The lake management say they are committed to improving the area's infrastructures and support facilities and 3 billion yuan has been allocated for improving the surrounding environment and for holiday hotels, restaurants and conference centers.

(China Daily 09/26/2011 page24)