Off-the-beaten-path travel increases among Chinese thrill seekers

NANNING (Nov 17): Instead of travelling to Guilin, a well-known tourist city in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 30-year-old Ma Xinyu and her friends decided to venture a little further into the rugged region to reap the rewards of veering off the traditional tourist tracks.

Ma, a Beijing local, joined the ever-swelling ranks of Chinese travellers who opt for tucked-away places and corners that have not yet been splashed across every travel guide in a quest for more special and personal experiences.

“Since it was the peak travel season, we intended to steer clear of the well-worn tracks and ride down a scenic route,” Ma said.

“We took a fortnight gleaning information from social media before embarking on a budget-friendly road trip.”

At the end of the journey, Ma and her friends felt truly blessed to have chosen the off-the-beaten-path as the smaller crowds were more acceptable, and destinations such as Karst caves, underwater sinkholes and ethnic villages in Hechi City were the highlights of the trip.

The city of Hechi used to be known as one of the least economically developed places in the country and a main battleground for the war against absolute poverty.

The city has heavily relied on agriculture for centuries to grow its economy.

But in recent years, the city has undergone a tourism renaissance, fueled by the country’s rural revitalisation drive, enhanced infrastructure and the explosive wave of influencer culture on social media.

“Hechi is home to a cluster of nature’s hidden gems,” said Wei Hongzhen, head of the Culture, Radio, Television, Sports and Tourism Bureau of Hechi.

“Since seeking authenticity and exploring local identity is now a key driver for many to hit the road, our city, with its abundance of pristine rivers, caves, sinkholes and ethnically distinct enclaves, is well-placed to become more front and centre in the national tourism landscape.”

From January to September this year, Hechi received about 48.1 million tourists, a 17.41 per cent rise year-on-year, and raked in over 50 billion yuan (about US$6.95 billion) in tourism revenue, an over 18 per cent increase from the comparable period last year.

Ma’s sentiment is echoed by Xu Yamei, a corporate lawyer from Beijing who flew to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, the day before the beginning of the National Day holiday and started a 5-day road trip southward.

“Compared to those highly commercialised hotspots with overpriced entrance tickets, I prefer to opt for the relative unknown that remains largely undisturbed by over-development and insanely heavy foot traffic,” Xu said.

Yao Hua, a sociologist at Guangxi Academy of Social Science, noted that the allure of an uncharted travel journey lies in the potential to amaze, and people have grown increasingly wary of the bustling hub of commercial districts and jam-packed tourist hotspots, like Guangxi’s Guilin and the coastal city of Beihai.

With starkly undulating and perennially verdant landscapes, many parts of Guangxi remain pleasantly rural, marked by extensive terraces and rice paddies interspersed with small farmhouses and fishponds.

The increased connectivity propped up by years of infrastructure building has made many of nature’s hidden gems readily accessible for would-be travellers.

“Apart from the usual sightseeing, another major takeaway is that I have learned to embrace the unfamiliar,” Xu said.

“I had a great time in Hechi, where I first cut my teeth in spelunking, and the two-hour car ride along the coastal highway of Qinzhou embodied everything I’d come to expect from a proper road trip.”

Hailed as the most beautiful coastal highway in Guangxi by some road trip enthusiasts, Qinzhou’s Sandun Highway, with its untrammelled vista of the stunning blend of blue sky and shimmering ocean, has swiftly become an Instagram-worthy hotspot, captivating the hearts of many independent travellers in recent years.

“During over 1,000 kilometres journeys, I felt like an adventure into the unknown,” Xu said.

“I came across a time-honoured ceramic art local to Qinzhou and spent a day at an ethnic county famed for its large number of centenarians.”

For those desiring to explore, the individualised and personal journeys offer a chance to immerse in the authentic local experiences of diverse cultures and soak in the unspoiled beauty of nature.

“There is a long list of destinations in China that emerge as delightful ‘alternatives’ for an increasing number of potential tourists who are often deterred by massive crowds, soaring ticket prices and commercialisation,” said Professor Li Yanqin from the Minzu University of China.

“And most of these lesser-known places offer a promise of captivating scenery, exploratory activities, and deeper connections with local lifestyles and traditions.”

Li also emphasised that the recent surge in the volume of leisure travel could be a double-edged sword for the local communities.

“While the economic benefits are evident, it’s important to consider how communities can effectively manage the influx of tourists, including ensuring the quality of service and maintaining the local environment,” Li said.

Wei noted that the burgeoning trend of less-trodden tourism has made Hechi, along with other lesser-known places, more “visible” to the outside world, but ultimately makes the city a magnet for tourists and sustaining a certain level of growth in the tourism sector is another story.

“We have taken a deep dive into the challenges of long-term development head-on and rolled out corresponding measures to diversify our offerings,” Wei said.

“The key lies in our ability to fashion our very own tourism brand by accentuating our strength and uniqueness and building good infrastructure.” – Xinhua