Introduction to Macheng Dujuan Cultural Tourism Festival

From October 26 to 28, 2007, forestry experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences came to Macheng for on-the-spot investigation, demonstration, sampling and identification, and solemnly announced that an original ecological community of ancient rhododendrons with a growth cycle of millions of years was discovered in Macheng. Its large area, long age and well-preserved state are unique in the country and rare in the world, and are of great development value. After repeated field surveys and appraisals by experts from the Wuhan Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units, the total area of ??ancient rhododendrons in Macheng City reached more than 1 million acres, of which the contiguous area of ??Guifeng Mountain Scenic Area reached more than 100,000 acres. Mu, the growth cycle is more than one million years, and the existing trees are more than two hundred years old. The boom in tourism in Macheng in recent years can be attributed to the "two reds" of Macheng: First, Macheng is a red ancient city with a glorious and long cultural heritage; second, Macheng's red azaleas have rich and unique natural resource. As a result, the development and protection of red rhododendrons was quickly included on the important agenda of the municipal party committee and government. The first Dujuan Cultural Tourism Festival was successfully held in April 2008, and will be held every two years thereafter. On April 18, 2009, Macheng's azaleas were included in the Guinness Book of Records in Shanghai as "the largest group of ancient azaleas in China".

"Macheng's goal is to strive to become an excellent tourist destination in China, a strong tourism city in Hubei Province, a tourism gateway city in the Dabie Mountains, and a tourism service base in the Wuhan city circle." When talking about the future development direction of Macheng's tourism industry, Sun Mouan, director of the Macheng Tourism Bureau, seemed confident: "With the current development speed of Macheng, it is not difficult to achieve the set goals." Sun Mouan introduced that Macheng currently has three railway lines (Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Shanghai-Chengdu Railway, and Hanma Railway ) and four expressways (Daguang Expressway, Hurong Expressway, Mawu Expressway, Mazhu Expressway) and one national highway (National Highway 106) pass through it. It has two secondary railway stations of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway and the Shanghai-Chengdu Railway; the city's Guifeng Mountain scenery The district and Macheng Martyrs Cemetery have been officially awarded the national 4A-level scenic spot. Among them, the Tianjing Mountain Rafting, which is the focus of the Guifeng Mountain Scenic Area, has been successfully launched. The cableway project for "watching azaleas from the air" was completed in March. In addition, Wunao Mountain, Xinghua Village, Macheng City Museum, etc. have been established as 3A scenic spots, and the creation of Chengma Guild Hall 2A scenic spot has also been completed. The application has been successful, and 6 reservoirs including Fuqiaohe Reservoir and Dahepu Reservoir have been successfully established as provincial-level water conservancy scenic spots.