Within the next 13 years Hubei Province will invest 26.929 billion yuan (about US$3.58 billion) in approximately 40 tourism projects inside the Three Gorges Area. Authorities aim to establish this region as a recognized domestic and international tourist destination.

Yesterday, a team of experts team meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing approved the Development and Operation Plan for the Three Gorges Area International Destination in Hubei Province.

The plan proposes construction of eight 5A tourism areas. They are called: the Three Gorges dam, the Three Gorges families, the Shennong Stream, the Shennongjia Scenic Area, the Memorial Temple of Qu Yuan in Fenghuang Mountain, the Zhaojun Culture Scenic Area, the Three Travelers' Cave (or Sanyou Cave) in Xiling Gorge and the Chexi Tujia Ethnic Customs Cultural Area.

They'll also build twelve 4A scenic areas, including sites at Dalao Mountain, Xiaofeng Mountain, Linglong Gorge and Huangling Temple.

The plan also involves constructing a spotlight tourism city, Yichang City, along with four tourism towns: Maoping Town in Zigui County, Xinling Town in Badong County, Songbai Town in Shennongjia area and Gufu Town in Xingshan County.

The government will invest a total of 10.37 billion yuan (approx. US$1.38 billion), to be used mainly for road construction, building foundation facilities in cities and towns and protecting cultural heritage and nature.

At the same time, Hubei Province will cooperate with the Chongqing Municipality to build a Three Gorges integrated open tourism area.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin September 17, 2007)