For the past few years, the tourism bureau of Yiling district in Yichang city, Hubei province, has strived to promote itself as a tourism destination and it has achieved positive results, hubeitour.gov.cn reported.

Yiling received 3.67 million visitors in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 20.91 percent.

The tourism revenue in the first half increased by 32.24 percent compared with the same period of last year, reaching a total of 3.1 billion yuan ($501 million).

The district’s promotional efforts include the participation of its scenic areas in the China National Tourism Fair 2013, held in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, on April 19.

Yiling also signed several cooperation agreements with some enterprises at the 5th China International Tourism Commodities Fair held in Yiwu, Zhejiang province on May 24.

In addition, the district hosted the China Three Gorges Third Tea Culture Festival on June 8, and signed cooperation agreements with Shanghai.

The completion of the Beijing-Guangzhou and the Shanghai-Yichang high-speed railway lines has offered an opportunity to increase the number of tourists visiting the district, and cruise ships also bring many tourists.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin