Benxi City used to be famous for its iron and steel. But it now brings its advantage of tourism into full play. A great development of tourism has been seen in the city, which not only promotes the economic progress, but also makes the city more beautiful.

Since this Spring Festival, 38 scenic regions in Benxi City have accepted visitors for 97.8 thousand person times. The tour income increases by 35.39 percent with 44 million yuan, a historic high record.

With the principle of protection, the city strengthens the development of natural resources. It attracts much capital from society into the tourism investment. So far, 4 major tour lines have been formed, that is, a sightseeing region with Water Cave as the core, an ecological region with Wunv Mountain as the core, an industry tour region with Benxi Iron and Steel Group, Benxi Coal Company and Nanfen region as the core, as well as an entertainment region with Yaojia new district as the core. The bumper development of these tour lines also stirs the promotion of relative industries. Last year, the city gained a total of tour income for 1.29 billion yuan.

This year, besides developing its own advantages, Benxi will make more cooperation with its neighboring cities. The tour income plans to be 1.86 billion yuan in 2004. The city now tries to make its tourism the pillar industry in its tertiary industries.
 
(Northeast Network February 19, 2004)