Gansu's Wen County redefines its tourism image in Shenzhen

A cultural and tourism promotion team from Wen County in Northwest China’s Gansu Province showcased the county’s ecological and cultural identity in Shenzhen on April 22 under the themes of “Ancient Wen Prefecture, Panda Paradise, and the Land of the Baima People.”

Audience members attend the cultural and tourism promotion event for Wen County, Gansu, held in Shenzhen. Photos courtesy of the event organizer

The event offered people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area a vivid glimpse into Wen County’s diverse regional culture and helped dispel outdated stereotypes about the province.

For many people, Gansu is often associated with vast deserts and the Gobi. But Wen County, located at the southernmost tip of Gansu, combines the grandeur of northern landscapes with the elegance of the south. To people in the north, it appears graceful and picturesque, like an ink-wash landscape of Jiangnan, which refers to the prosperous and culturally rich region south of the lower Yangtze River in China. To people in the south, it retains the ruggedness and bold spirit of the Longyuan region. Its nicknames, “Jiangnan on the Loess Plateau” and “Gansu’s Xishuangbanna,” reflect its distinctive character.

Wen County is not only an important habitat for the giant panda, but also home to the crystal-clear Yangtang Tianchi Lake, the tranquil beauty of Bikou Water Town, the mysterious and ancient Baima mountain villages, and Chigezhou (Wen County mask dance), a folk tradition inscribed on China’s national intangible cultural heritage list and rich in primal totemic symbolism.

A view of Yangtang Tianchi Lake in Wen County.

At the event, Wen County adopted a multi-dimensional presentation combining folk performances, promotional videos, in-depth presentations, and product displays to explain its tourism development framework of “one core and three clusters.” It also promoted a number of carefully designed premium travel routes, turning cultural brands such as “Panda Home” and “Baima Culture” from abstract concepts into vivid, tangible, and immersive experiences.

By leveraging new media platforms, Wen County has consistently shared seasonal scenery, travel guides, and traditional folk festivals, successfully capturing significant online attention. Many netizens commented that they have already added Wen County to their travel bucket list.

During the promotion, the Wen County Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism also held talks with several major travel agencies in Shenzhen to discuss cooperation in route development and tourist sourcing, aiming to expand professional market channels for the county’s cultural and tourism resources.