Guangxi's first 'international slow city' appears in Fuchuan

Magnificent Shenxian Lake at the International Slow City of Fuli town, Fuchuan Yao autonomous county, Guangxi [Photo / Xinhua]

The sea of flowers in Fuli town, Fuchuan Yao autonomous county in Guangxi [Photo / Xinhua]

Fuli town, Fuchuan Yao autonomous county, Guangxi, was recently certified by Cittaslow as the first "international slow city" in Guangxi and the fourth in China, according to the publicity department of Fuchuan.

In July last year, Cittaslow sent a delegation to Fuchuan to do field inspection and evaluation. The Agriculture Core Demonstration Plot in Fuli town was considered to meet the standard of an "international slow city".

Before that, Fuchuan had been vigorously promoting tourism by developing rural home inns and making the best of unique local resources. It also facilitated rural-tourism spots by developing eco-new villages and planned to construct a visitor center to hasten designation as an "international slow city".

According to Chen Hua, secretary of Fuchuan county Party committee, Fuchuan now has an inn invested with more than 6 million yuan ($0.91 million) and a mountainous resort with an investment of over 12 million yuan. It has used all the 100 mu (6.67 hectares) land planned for tourism use and has built a large-scale green parking lot.

Moreover, Fuchuan brought in an ecological agriculture sightseeing tourism project with the theme of valuable domestic and foreign plants and flowers, including a 1,000 mu Shenxian Lake Agricultural Sightseeing Park, a 2,100 mu Rose Lake Water Park, a 200 mu health maintenance park and a 300 mu rare fruits picking garden. The first phase of the project of an all-year-round sea of flowers opened to the public on the National Day last year. The whole project is planned to complete this year. To date, the area has received nearly 300,000 tourists, earning income of 123 million yuan.