PROMOTING ANHUI TOURISM TO AMERICANS: A HARD SELL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000756 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND INR/EAP - CLARKE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EIND PGOV EINV ELTN EAIR ECON CH KS SUBJECT: PROMOTING ANHUI TOURISM TO AMERICANS: A HARD SELL ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Anhui Province, the poorest province in Shanghai's consular district, hopes to jump-start its economy by promoting tourism. Although home to many beautiful natural and historical sights, Anhui is finding it difficult to attract mass numbers of Western tourists, and Americans in particular. END SUMMARY. THE FIRST ANHUI TOURISM FESTIVAL -------------- ¶2. (U) At the invitation of the Anhui Foreign Affairs Office, ConOff attended the opening of the first-ever Anhui Tourism Festival, awkwardly subtitled: "2007 China (Anhui) Middle-Eastern Tourism Fair." The event was attended by representatives from only a few foreign missions (U.S., Malaysia, Sweden, and Israel) and two foreign tourism offices (South Korea and Hong Kong). The festival began on November 17 with an opening ceremony, during which the provincial governor and other local officials sang the praises of Anhui's tourism preeminence as spectators and official invitees stood listening semi-attentively in the freezing rain. After an hour of speeches, two marching bands (playing two different songs) provided a dissonant and not-so-grand finale as fireworks sputtered defiantly against the downpour and ungrateful audience members were pelted with clumps of wet confetti. IT'S A HARD RAIN IS GONNA FALL -------------- ¶3. (U) The poorest province in Shanghai's consular district, Anhui has long suffered from weak infrastructure and frequent flooding. Anhui's topography is flat in the north, and hilly-to-mountainous in the south. Lying within the Yangtze and Huaihai river basins, Anhui experiences yearly floods. In addition, the mountainous terrain in the southern region has historically made transportation and access into and out of Anhui difficult. In Eastern China, Anhui is clearly the lowest province on the totem pole. For example, during periods of unseasonably high rain in the 1980s and 1990s, the Chinese Central Government chose to dam tributaries of the Yangtze River and purposely flood Anhui to spare the more developed and economically important eastward neighbor, Jiangsu Province, at Anhui's expense. WELL BEHIND THE PACK -------------- ¶4. (U) Economically, Anhui lags far behind the other provinces in East China. Most of Anhui's wealth is concentrated in industrial regions close to the Yangtze River, such as Hefei, Wuhu, and Maanshan. Anhui's 2006 USD 79.4 billion GDP is roughly one-third that of neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. According to provincial officials, Anhui's average income is RMB 2,000 (USD 266) per month, compared with approximately RMB 6,000 in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, and RMB 8,000 in Shanghai. When asked by ConOff, local university students and school children expressed their hopes to someday leave Anhui for Shanghai and (less often) Beijing. The majority of "Mingong" (immigrant workers) in Shanghai come from Anhui to be maids, janitors, and work in dangerous high-rise construction. ¶5. (U) Efforts by the Central Government to strengthen Anhui's economy have been largely unsuccessful. For example, to promote technological development in Anhui, in 1970 the Central Government moved the prestigious University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) from Beijing to Hefei, Anhui's capital. Unfortunately, according to local officials, USTC graduates invariably leave Hefei for employment in Beijing and Shanghai, or pursue post-graduate work abroad. Local officials are proud, however, that Anhui produces more refrigerators than any other province in China. (NOTE: Although refrigerators were mentioned several times during the visit, Anhui officials made no mention of Anhui's most famous corporation: the automobile company Chery based in Wuhu, which has recently moved to enter the American sub-compact, under USD 10,000 auto market. END NOTE.) GREAT SIGHTS, BAD LOCATION -------------- SHANGHAI 00000756 002 OF 003 ¶6. (U) In a bold attempt to look beyond home appliances, Anhui is seeking economic advancement through tourism. As part of the tourism festival, local authorities took ConOff to visit Anhui's tourist destinations, chief among which is "Huangshan" (Yellow Mountain). Three hours south of Hefei by car, Huangshan is one of China's most popular tourist spots and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. The area is renowned for its scenic beauty, jutting granite peaks, and unique "giant Banzai" Huangshan pine trees. Because many of its peaks are above cloud level, views of the clouds from above offer beautiful views and interesting light-effects, which over the centuries have been given wistful names like Sea of Clouds and Buddha's Light. With its hot springs, natural pools, and gorges, Huangshan is an oft-featured subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature. A photo gallery of Huangshan's scenic beauty can be found here: http://www.phototravels.net/china/yellow-moun tains-huangsha n.html. Huangshan is surprisingly popular with South Koreans, with direct flights daily to Korea from the relatively small Huangshan village airport. Besides Koreans, ConOff saw no other non-Chinese tourists on the mountain. LOCAL CULTURE, VERY LOCAL CUISINE -------------- ¶7. (U) In Yixian County, an hour's drive from Huangshan, lay Xidi village and Hongcun village, which together in 2000 became the "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui" UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hongcun was a film location for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Due to the popularity of this Oscar-winning film, tourism to these cities has dramatically increased. The architecture and carvings of these cities date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and are among the best examples of their kind in China. At each of the cities, tourist pay an entrance fee of about USD 10, and are free to visit and explore hundreds of well-preserved wooden residences with beautiful carvings. These residences are still occupied, giving tourists a flavor for what life must have been like in these ancient villages. ¶8. (U) In addition to its cultural heritage, Anhui is very proud of its local food, which officials claim as one of the eight great traditional Chinese cuisines. Combining cooking elements from throughout Anhui, including the Yixian Hui-speaking region, the cuisine is known for its use of river fish, wild game, and herbs all prepared in uncomplicated ways. ConOff had the dubious privilege of sampling various forms of wild game (i.e., frog, hedgehog, snail, and several varieties of unnamed innards) prepared in simple ways (most frequently boiled for a very, very long time). ConOff was both impressed and puzzled by the differentiation made by locals between ostensibly similar dishes (e.g., "boiled stone frog," "boiled field frog," "boiled mountain frog," etc.) When ConOff commented on this phenomenon to an official from the Anhui Tourism Council, the official thoughtfully responded that perhaps the ConOff had not yet developed a refined palate for the nuances of amphibian delicacies. ConOff admitted that this was indeed true, and that this handicap apparently extended to a wide variety of snail dishes, as well. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Anhui tourism officials commented frequently throughout the trip that they do not receive many western, particularly American tourists. One especially astute official opined that this was because the main draw to Anhui is Huangshan, nicknamed the Yosemite of China, which (although unique in China) was similar in nature to several national parks in the United States. Americans, he said, don't need to travel to China to see impressive mountains; moreover American mountains have ski resorts. While Americans do go to Huangshan, Anhui officials noted that the majority of these are (ethnic) Chinese Americans, and for the most part older, Chinese-born, naturalized U.S. citizens. ConOff feels many Americans would truly enjoy Xidi and Hongcun cities, which despite the cuisine, were truly impressive examples of what many Americans expect to see when visiting China. Unfortunately, Anhui is distant from many of the typical tourist sites visited by Americans in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, etc. Given the average American's lack SHANGHAI 00000756 003 OF 003 of familiarity with Huangshan, and Anhui in general, it is unlikely that American tourism will expand rapidly without concerted efforts by Anhui Tourism Officials to promote itself among American tourists and travel agencies. END COMMENT. JARRETT