At Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd., a national demonstration site for industrial tourism, nearly 1,000 tourists observe the launch of a container ship bound for Germany. by Liu Shuxian/CFP

Tourists visit the ChangYu Wine Culture Museum in Yantai, Shandong Province. by Wang Zhide/CFP

Beijing’s 798 Art Zone. by Zhang Kaixin/CFP

The Three Gorges Dam scenic zone, China’s largest industrial tourism site. by Liu Junfeng/CFP

Hand weaving attracts the participation of tourists. by Zhang Bin/CFP

Tourists visit the Shenyang Heavy Machinery Group. by Gao Jian/CFP

A byproduct of China’s trans-formation from outmoded mechanisms of industry to more high-tech forms of production, vintage factory buildings and the machines within have become useless as tools of manufacturing, but a certain mystique came to surround the obsolete facilities, and a particular form of tourism came to be.
Industrial tourism began in Europe, in large part to satisfy people’s nostalgic yearnings and their desire to consider up close the heavy industrialization of bygone eras. Tourism transformed those extraneous industrial facilities into resources yielding both economic and social gain.
In 2001, in representing an age of industry now past but still recent, UNESCO designated the Zollverein Coal Mine in Essen in Germany’s Ruhr Industrial Region as a World Cultural Heritage site, the first industry-themed property to be inscribed on the heritage list.
Following China’s economic transformation, some believed that the closed factory buildings and mines should be demolished and replaced by new communities and new sectors. Conversely, others suggested that these forms of industrial heritage should be included as part of the overall strategic development plan, along with the development of traditional forms of tourism and regional revitalization.
The Beijing 798 Art Zone is one of the first districts in China to experience such a transformation. The area, previously a complex of factories constructed during the 1950s, with the assistance of the former Soviet Union, exudes a certain exoticism of structure and environment. After China’s economic reforms took hold, the products these factories produced substantially lost their market, and the plants were closed and deserted.
Valuing the location of this district in northeastern urban Beijing, real estate developers planned to dismantle the buildings for commercial projects. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the inexpensive rent and convenient transportation, a group of modern artists, primarily oil painters and sculptors, began to lease spaces, aiming to transform the place into an art zone. The former factory complex became a cultural destination for the exhibition and transaction of modern art.
The government realized the cultural and commercial value in the 798 model, and moved to better develop creative industries, and 798, as a prototype of this newer commercial genre, enjoyed policy protection and support. During the Beijing Olympic Games period, the district attracted numerous foreign visitors.
In recent years, several large-scale under-construction industrial projects became hot tourist destinations, as exemplified by the Three Gorges project. Launched in 1992 with a total investment of 180 billion yuan, the Three Gorges dam, currently the largest hydropower installation in China, is expected to attain a normal water level of 175 meters at the end of this year. Flood control, shipping, and the generation of electricity are the three primary products of the project. The derivative industry that has brought the highest added value to investors is tourism. Since its opening to the public in 1997, the Three Gorges dam area has welcomed an ever-growing number of tourists, with the total visitor count reaching 4 million by the end of last June, and tourism substantially drives growth in the local economy. Today annual tourism revenues of both Chongqing and Yichang, two of the largest cities in the Yangtze Three Gorges tourist zone, account for 7 percent of the cities’ GDP, higher than the national average of 5 percent.
Whether “industrial production tourism” or “industrial heritage tourism” may rescue declining obsolete industry sites by taking advantage of local conditions.
Globally, as the influence of financial crisis may present challenges for national economies, developing new tourist sectors may be a positive factor in driving domestic demand, maintaining stable development, and rejuvenating regional economies. The 2008 National Day Golden Week holiday in October saw parallel growth in the tourist count and resulting revenue. The 119 key scenic resorts across the country collectively received 18.29 million visitors, up by 13 percent over the same period of last year, and tourism revenues increased by 16 percent. In spite of recent economic turbulence, tourist markets are still on the rise, and this testifies to the potential driving force of tourism.
China’s industrial tourism began later, but the sector developed at a rapid pace. Today, enterprises engaged in various forms of industrial tourism abound across the nation. Demonstration destinations for industrial tourism number about 300, covering a wide range of industrial fields, from traditional handicrafts and national industry to modern high-tech production. Some 20 contemporary industrial sites and milestone industrial facilities, holding great promise for the development of industrial tourism, were designated by the State Council as important cultural heritage sites under state protection. These include the first oil well on Daqing Oilfield, the Qiantang River Bridge, and a waste launch site at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, on the UNESCO World Heritage list, is China’s only industrial heritage site, one of 34 in the world.
Benefitting from their geographical distribution of industrial tourism, and comparably advantaged in that respect, are certain highly industrialized regions, including Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing. In the eastern coastal province of Shandong, with 29 national demonstration destinations for industrial tourism, more than any other province, autonomous region or municipality, industrial tourist attractions extend well beyond large cities and include world-famous brands, like Tsingtao Beer and Haier. In Beijing and Shanghai, industrial tourism adds to the vibrant cities’ diversity of sightseeing attractions. In the northeastern regions, industrial tourism became a new point of interest in the rejuvenation process of old industrial bases. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, both boasting well-developed private economies, industrial tourism is now an important factor considered by private enterprises as they lay out their plans for expansion.