Chapter Four The Rise of “Medicine and Tourism Linkage”

Panorama of Xianren Lake鸟瞰仙人湖

The Yundan Mountain in Qichun蕲春云丹山风光

On April 13, 2018 in a conference room on the second floor of the Aijing Grand Hotel in Qichun County, thunderous applause sounded. The Development Plan of the National TCM Health Tourism Demonstration Zone in Qichun County had been approved by the expert panel.

On September 18, 2017,t h e National Tourism Administration and the State Administration of TCM jointly issued a document,proclaiming Qichun as one of the first batch of fifteen national TCM health tourism demonstration zones. It was the only county-level establishment in the country.

Highlighting the Characteristics and Embedding Innovative Integration

“TCM health tourism is a systematic project, with TCM as the priority, tourism as the cornerstone, and humanity as the core starting point.We should look at the whole picture of regional tourism,and build a tourist destination with comprehensive functions.It is a new concept of tourism development.” said Li Kaishou,deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Tourism Development Committee.

Xianrentai covered by snow仙人台雪景

2018年4月13日，蕲春县艾晶大酒店二楼会议室里，响起雷鸣般的掌声。《蕲春县国家中医药健康旅游示范区发展规划》，顺利通过专家评审。

此前，2017年9月18日，国家旅游局、国家中医药管理局联合发文公布，蕲春跻身首批十五个国家中医药健康旅游示范区创建行列，是全国唯一的县级创建单位。

突出特色创新融合

“中医药健康旅游，是一个系统工程，中医药是亮点，旅游是落脚点，以人为本是最终的出发点。要站在全域旅游的高度，把一个区域整体作为功能完整的旅游目的地来建设，是一种全新旅游发展理念。”湖北省旅游发展委员会副主任李开寿说。

蕲春推进跨界融合创新发展，旅游与医药、健康、养生、文化产业深度融合，旅游与民族宗教融合，旅游与生态农业融合，旅游与体育产业融合，旅游与精准扶贫深度融合。持续走出一条差别竞争、特色取胜、错位发展的旅游发展路子，推动全县旅游业全面、协调和可持续发展。

近几年，在“华中旅游博览会”“西安丝绸之路博览会”“东坡文化节”等知名节会期间，蕲春举办多场养生旅游投资项目招商推介会，累计签约金额113.48亿元。中医药健康旅游项目累计投入350多亿元，全县健康旅游产业呈现生机勃勃、方兴未艾之势。

The Henggang Mountain Scenic Spot横岗山景区

药旅联动业态新

蕲春县委、县政府创新实施“药旅联动”战略，明确创建“国家中医药健康旅游示范区”“湖北旅游强县”的定性目标和“千亿健康旅游产业”的定量目标。

黄冈市委常委、蕲春县委书记赵少莲指出，旅游业是一个战略性事业，也是经济、文化、生活、审美、形象和探索综合体现的产业。蕲春县委副书记、县长詹才红提出，以创建全省旅游强县和国家中医药健康旅游示范区为目标，加快李时珍文化旅游区等核心景区建设。

县里还编制《蕲春旅游发展总体规划（2011-2030）》和一系列景区规划。蕲春中医药健康旅游业的发展，迎来一个崭新的春天。

在产业发展上，近年来蕲春大力推进“药旅联动”战略，形成李时珍医药集团、蕲艾产业协会“两大龙头”带动和李时珍工业园区、李时珍国际医药港、李时珍文化旅游区“三大平台支撑”的健康产业基本发展格局。

Qichun is now promoting the cross-border and crossfield integration mode, which combines tourism with medicine,health, health care, and cultural industries. The integration of tourism and religion, tourism and ecological agriculture, tourism and sports industries, tourism and poverty alleviation will help pave a tourism-development path featuring differential competition,distinctive features, and crossborder development, so as to promote the county’s tourism industry in a comprehensive,coordinated, and sustainable manner.

In the past few years, at many well-known festivals such as“Central China Tourism Expo,”“Xi’an Silk Road Expo,” and“Dongpo Cultural Festival,”Qichun has held investment promotion conferences for health tourism investment projects,which achieved a cumulative contract value of RMB 11.348 billion.

Also, a total of more than 35 billion yuan has been invested in TCM health tourism projects,which has given birth to a vigorous and flourishing health tourism industry in the county.

Terraced fields of Wuyun Mountain, Qichun雾云山梯田

A New Picture of the “Medicine and Tourism Linkage” Format

Chilong Lake Wetland in Li Shizhen Cultural Tourism Zone李时珍文化旅游区·赤龙湖湿地

The Qichun Party Committee and County Government have initiated the “Medicine and Tourism Linkage” strategy and clearly established the targets to become a “National TCM Health Tourism Demonstration Zone”and “Powerful Tourism County in Hubei” with a “100-billion-yuan health tourism industry.”

随着招商局集团、湖北省联投介入大健康产业，招商局蕲春健康产业新城、李时珍文化旅游区和李时珍医药集团将成为蕲春大健康产业新的发展龙头，旅游产业已进入快速发展的阶段。

蕲春已创建国家4A级景区一个，3A级景区6个，标准化公厕16处，景区游客接待中心8处，旅游公路32公里。初步形成以高星级酒店为引领、商务酒店为主体、经济型酒店和农家乐为补充的旅游住宿接待体系。

Night view of Wuyun Mountain雾云山夜景

The Puyang Temple 普阳观

养生蕲春全域旅游

近年来，蕲春县积极适应从“景点旅游”向“全域旅游”转变的新要求，谋划推动中医药健康旅游工作，按照“策划为先、规划为纲、产业为本、景观为体、文化为魂”的发展思路，树立“山山水水都是旅游资源、村村镇镇都是旅游节点、一切建设都是旅游景观、全体人民都是旅游形象”的发展理念，打造全域旅游。

蕲春把整个县域作为一个大景区来打造。高标准做好示范区发展规划，坚持“点、线、面”结合，以山水生态旅游、农业休闲旅游、工业观光旅游、城市养生旅游为支撑，加快推进李时珍文化旅游区、蕲艾特色小镇等重点项目建设，加快开发仙人湖、横岗山等重点景区，启动建设一批健康旅游小镇，创建一批4A、3A级景区和旅游名村，实现重点景区和乡村旅游景点一线串珠。

蕲春重点打造医圣祭拜、医道养生、运动养生、药膳养生、国医国学、中医药生态拓展、“三色”（古色、红色、绿色）等8条精品旅游线路，以“李时珍文化旅游区为龙头，一线串联文化展示、健康体验、医道养生、艾景观光、特色小镇、休闲度假、药膳美食、旅游商品等八位一体”的旅游发展格局。

叫响品牌提升形象

通过叫响“养生蕲春，中国艾都”品牌，抓住纪念李时珍诞辰500周年系列活动和魅力中国城竞演的机遇，推广以蕲春为目的地的黄金旅游线路。

以打通武汉城市圈为重点，加快推进大别山中医药健康旅游发展规划建设，健全完善大别山生态文化旅游区、咸宁南线旅游合作区等区域旅游合作联盟，实现信息互通、资源共享。

Zhao Shaolian, member of the Standing Committee of the Huanggang Municipal Party Committee and secretary of the Qichun County Party Committee,pointed out that tourism is a strategic cause—it is an index industry that reflects economy,culture, life, aesthetics, and the image of a place. Zhan Caihong,county governor and deputy secretary of the Qichun County Party Committee, also proposed to speed up the construction of core scenic spots of Li Shizhen culture to meet the strategic target of establishing a strong provincial tourism industry and a national TCM health tourism demonstration zone.

Qichun also compiled the Qichun Tourism Development General Plan (2011-2030) as well as plans for a series of scenic spots. The development of TCM health tourism in Qichun has ushered in a brand new epoch.

In the area of industrial development, after years of continuous exploration and promotion of “Medicine and Tourism Linkage” strategies,the health industry has seen“two leading roles”—Li Shizhen Pharmaceutical Group and Qi Mugwort Industry Association—and “three major platforms,”namely Li Shizhen Industrial Park, Li Shizhen International Pharmaceutical Port, and Li Shizhen Cultural Tourism Zone.

With the involvement of the China Merchants Group and Hubei United Investment Group into the health industry, the Qichun Industrial New Town under China Merchants Group, Li Shizhen Cultural Tourism Zone,and Li Shizhen Pharmaceutical Group will become the new leaders in the development of Qichun’s big health industry. The tourism industry has entered a rapid development stage.

Qichun has established one national 4A-level scenic spot,six 3A-level scenic spots, 16 standardized public toilets, eight tourist reception centers, and 32 kilometers of tourist highways.A tourist accommodation and catering system was initially formed, led by high-star hotels and composed mainly of business hotels, and is now complemented by budget hotels and farmhouses.

Whole-area Tourism and Health Care in Qichun

Tangchong Village of Liuhe Town刘河汤冲美景

Li Shizhen Cultural Tourism Zone李时珍文化旅游区

Li Shizhen Herb Garden李时珍百草园

Qichun section of the Red Tourism Highway红色旅游公路·蕲春段

In recent years, Qichun has actively adapted itself to the new requirements from “scenic spot tourism” to “whole-area tourism”and pushed itself towards TCM health tourism under the principle of “planning first,projects as the key, industry as the basis, landscape as the body, and culture as the soul.” As a result,the concept of “every mountain and river is a tourism resource,every village and town is a tourist spot, every piece of construction is scenic landscape, and every resident embodies an image” can be established, and a whole-area tourism model can be built.

2015年和2018年，两次在央视一套新闻联播黄金时段投放蕲春健康旅游广告，“养生蕲春·户外天堂”“中国艾都·养生蕲春”等悠扬的旋律唱响在世界各地。

2017年，全县旅游接待游客432.16万人次，同比增长29.82%，实现旅游收入29.12亿元，同比增长28.95%。

“大鹏之功，非一羽之轻；骐骥之速，非一足之力。”今年是李时珍诞辰500周年，机会千载难逢，机遇稍纵即逝，作为医圣故里，蕲春将在国家大力推进中医药健康旅游发展的大环境下，乘盛会之东风，借力药旅联动战略，努力创建国家中医药健康旅游示范区和湖北省旅游强县。

Qichun is planning to design the entire county into a large scenic spot by implementing high-standard demonstration zone development plans,combining the “point, line,surface” scenic landscape.With the establishment of landscape ecological tourism,agricultural leisure tourism,industrial sightseeing tourism,and industrial health care tourism, Qichun will be busy accelerating the construction of key projects like the Li Shizhen Cultural Tourism Zone and Qi Mugwort Theme Towns.Meanwhile, Qichun will speed up the development of Xianren Lake,Henggang Mountain, build up a number of healthy tourism towns,formulate a group of 4A and 3A scenic spots and famous tourist villages, and eventually unite key scenic spots with rural tourist spots in the county.

Qichun will focus on creating eight tourist routes, including“Medical Sage Worship,”“Medicine Health Care,” “Sports Health Care,” “Medicinal Diet Health Care,” “National Study +TCM Study,” “ TCM ecological development,” and “Three Colors”(Ancient, Red, Green). An eightin-one tourism development pattern will unfold with the Li Shizhen cultural tourism area as the leader, which will put cultural shows, the health care experience,medicinal health care, mugwort sightseeing, theme towns, leisure and vacation, herbal food, and tourism products all in one string.

A sea of clouds in Pingfeng Village屏风古寨观云海

Image Building by Brand Promotion

Qichun will seize the opportunity of commemorating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Li Shizhen and the ongoing Charming China Town competition performance to popularize its branding slogan“Capital of Mugwort, the Health Care City,” thus promoting Qichun tourism routes.

By melting into Wuhan’s urban agglomerations, Qichun will accelerate the development of TCM health tourism by the Dabie Mountains, improve and perfect regional tourism cooperation such as the Dabie Mountains Ecological Cultural Tourism Zone and Xianning South Line Tourism Cooperation Zone, so as to achieve information and resource sharing.

In 2015 and 2018, respectively,advertisements for Qichun health tourism were screened on prime time on the CCTV news channel.The melody of “Healthy Qichun,Outdoor Paradise” and “Capital of Mugwort, the Health Care City”tuned in the air.

In 2017, Qichun received 4,321,600 tourist visits, an annual increase of 29.82%— the tourism revenue amounts to 2.912 billion yuan, with an annual increase of 28.95%.

“The power of a phoenix does not come from one single feather; the speed of a steed is not determined by one foot.” This year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Li Shizhen; a golden opportunity is awaiting Qichun.As the hometown of this medical sage, Qichun will cherish this chance to be a good host and make the best out of it. In the course of promoting TCM and health tourism, Qichun will keep to the“Medicine and Tourism Linkage”strategy, and strive to build itself into a national TCM health tourism demonstration zone, and a strong tourist county in Hubei Province.