Xuyi County on the southern bank of Hongze Lake, China's third largest freshwater lake, is hoping to turn itself into Shanghai's holiday-making backyard.

The dream starts at Sizhou Town, an ancient city built in 704 along Bianhe River during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) but flooded in 1680 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Bianhe River used to be a busy waterway but disappeared after the flood-prone Yellow River swerved from its normal route and joined Huaihe River instead in 1680.

Cai Duncheng, secretary of the Xuyi County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), says his county has drawn up a tourism development plan centered on the ancient oval-shaped Sizhou Town, which is 2.05 km long and 1.2 km wide and has five gates. "The development plan will take 10 years to complete," says Cai.

The plan provides for a 2.2 sq km park around the city ruins, featuring items such as the old city wall and temple, as well as a new museum to reproduce scenes of the ancient city.

The local official predicted that the development would boost tourist arrivals in Xuyi to 3 million by 2010, and tourism revenue would rise to 1.8 billion yuan (US$225 million), about one third coming directly from the ancient city ruins park.

Planners have completed an archaeological study of the ancient city and made a model of the city ruins.

More than one billion yuan (US$125 million) will be spent developing tourism resources around the ancient city. Details of a public tender will be announced soon, according to the local official.

Xuyi, situated in western Jiangsu Province and six hours by bus from Shanghai, is well-known for crab cultivation. But being a backwater area, Xuyi has not seen any real progress in tourism until recent years.

The county handled 1.2 million tourists last year, of whom 300,000 came from Shanghai. It expects to attract 500,000 tourists from Shanghai alone this year.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2006)