Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — Alashankou City, located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) on the border of China and Kazakhstan, has been actively leveraging its unique geographical advantages to promote the integrated development of culture and tourism, according to an article posted on the official website of the Alashankou City Hall.
As the hub of China's opening up to the West, Alashankou serves as an important channel for the development of China's trade and economic ties with Central Asia and even Europe. XUAR and Alashankou in particular are rich in tourism resources. All these factors have laid a solid foundation for the development of cultural tourism in Alashankou.
In recent years, Alashankou, taking advantage of the historical opportunities created by the Belt and Road Initiative, has been actively developing border and cross-border tourism and has taken a series of policies to promote the prosperity of local cultural tourism.
Alashankou City pays special attention to the integration of tourism resources of China and Kazakhstan and the establishment of a cross-border tourism service system. In accordance with the needs of tourists, the city government has launched specific cross-border routes such as trade and shopping routes and scenic tour routes in cooperation with the tourism department of Kazakhstan. At the same time, it has taken a leading role in formulating unified pricing standards for services to promote the healthy development of the tourism market, promoting cooperation between local enterprises and tourism companies in Kazakhstan to jointly develop cross-border tourism routes and form a resource sharing mechanism.
"The two-day tour of Lake Alakol that we launched is a completely new and popular tourist route. We will take tourists to Lake Alakol and introduce them to local exotic customs. In the future, we plan to launch a 5-day tour and a 7-day tour of Lake Alakol, and we also intend to switch to longer routes to Almaty," the branch of Xinjiang Jinqiao International Travel Agency in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, where the city of Alashankou is located, reported.
The implementation of the mutual visa exemption policy between China and Kazakhstan in 2023 has opened up great opportunities for the development of the tourism industry in Alashankou. This city, which used to be just a border crossing, is now turning into an important tourist destination.
As of August 27 this year, Alashankou City had received a total of over 1.5 million tourists, with tourism revenue reaching 851 million yuan (about 120 million US dollars), up 50 percent and 49.33 percent year-on-year, respectively. In particular, 82,000 inbound and outbound trips were recorded here, with an increase of 0.98 percent year-on-year.
In order to make tourists enjoy their travels more, Alashankou City has been actively improving its tourism infrastructure. From the second half of 2023 to the beginning of 2025, the number of hotels in this city increased from 11 to 25, the number of beds increased from 987 to more than 2,650, and the number of restaurants increased by 80 establishments.
"During the tourist season last year, there was a great demand for hotel services, and it was often difficult to book a hotel in Alashankou. Since hotels in the city were unable to fully meet the existing needs, the Xiyu International Hotel in Alashankou was built and put into operation this year," the hotel said. "The new hotel has more than 50 rooms, which effectively supplemented the local hotel resources," a representative of the Xiyu Hotel added.
This year, Alashankou City continues to work hard to improve its cultural and tourism infrastructure. In particular, on May 1, a renovated tourist service center was put into operation, which provides better services. In June, the Alashankou swimming pool was restored, which expanded the opportunities for recreation and entertainment for tourists. Projects such as the construction of a fitness center and the modernization of border cultural tourism facilities are being systematically implemented.
Alashankou is currently in talks with Kazakhstan to promote cross-border self-driving tours, a one-day tour of Dostyk and other routes to give tourists a deeper insight into Central Asian customs. The city is also pushing ahead with an application to establish a national pilot zone for cross-border tourism to deepen tourism cooperation with Central Asian countries. -0-
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