In recent years, Jingzhou has promoted the protection and evacuation of the ancient city and the construction of historical and cultural tourist zones in a coordinated manner. In late 2020, the city won an admission ticket for creating a 5A scenic spot. With the acceleration of a number of key cultural tourism projects, the ancient city has been taking on a new look with each passing day and getting closer to being officially listed as a 5A scenic spot.
A new landmark on the riverside of the moat
On the southeast bank of the moat in the ancient city of Jingzhou and north of the East Campus of Yangtze University, Jingjie Street (Phase I), an antique commercial street integrating food, leisure, night market, trendy play and homestay, is busy preparing for its October 1 opening.
Jingjie Street is one of the key projects for the ancient city of Jingzhou to create a 5A scenic spot. Starting in March 2019, the project is planned to be built in three phases. Stretching west along the south moat and running across Zhongxuan Bridge to the ancient south gate, Jingjie Street, which is as long as about 2 kilometers in total, will become the No. 1 commercial street in Jingzhou and a new landmark of the city’s cultural tourism sector. After completion, Jing Street will be connected with Binyang Tower, Zhang Juzheng's Former Residence, Guandi Temple and other scenic spots in the city.
Walking along Jingjie Street (Phase I), one will see 16 antique buildings built with blue bricks and tiles on the southeast bank of the moat. The statue of "Three Heroes" in the square, portraits in stores, and the light show with the theme of "loyalty, justice, benevolence and courage" being installed along the street have created a rich atmosphere of the Three Kingdoms. From the stores being decorated on both sides of the blue-stone roadway, the sound of "tinkling" keeps coming out. In the self-operated food zone, 30 stalls have been decorated and business equipment is being installed for trial operation on August 30.
“At present, there are 58 contracted merchants, with a leased area of over 20,000 square meters, accounting for 65.49% of the whole street,” said Zhao Yuan, executive director of Hubei Culture and Tourism Jingzhou Group’s Business Management Company, adding that catering accounts for half of the business formats of the street and that the street will gather the most distinctive local catering brands and snack formats in Jingzhou, including Songzi Dujia Chicken, Gongan Southeast Beef, and Shishou Master Wan’s Pot-stewed Meat Dish to create the "No.1 food street in Jingzhou". After the opening of Jingjie Street (Phase I), construction of Phase II and Phase III with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan will be accelerated, according to a person-in-charge at Hubei Culture and Tourism Jingzhou Group.
Cultural tourism projects are launched one by one
The light show opens as night falls. The ancient city wall is reflected into the moat, just like a palace in the moon. Standing at Chaozong Tower on the platform of Dabei Gate, one will get a bird's-eye view of the ancient city of Jingzhou, which, covering an area of 4.5 square kilometers, looks faintly discernible, simple and quiet.
11.28 kilometers in circumference and 8.83 meters in height, the ancient city wall was mainly built in Ming and Qing dynasties. Because of its long history spanning many dynasties and its good condition, it is hailed as "a rare wall in southern China". After the repair and renovation, the top of the ancient city wall was fully connected in April this year. "Every time I walk on the ancient city wall, I feel different as if I was travelling back to ancient dynasties," said Mr. Dong, a local citizen.
In ancient times China was divided into nine areas and Jingzhou was one of them. The city has a long history and rich historical and cultural resources. Xiongjiazhong, located in the northwest of the ruins of Jinan, capital of the ancient Kingdom of Chu, is the largest and highest-grade noble cemetery in the Kingdom of Chu ever discovered, enjoying the reputation of "Terracotta Warriors in the north and Xiongjiazhong in the south".
Over the past year or so, Jingzhou has successively completed the infrastructure construction such as bus stops around the ancient city, cruise terminals, security systems, etc. 6 large pleasure boats and 4 small ones have been put into use, and key projects such as upgrading of Zhang Juzheng's Former Residence, polishing of the city wall, the light show of the ancient city and Jingjie Street have been successively completed. In a word, the ancient city is taking on a new look.
Development and utilization under protection
On June 24, it was proposed at a special meeting on the protection and evacuation of the ancient city of Jingzhou and the creation of a national 5A tourist spot that in the long-term development, there have appeared some problems in the ancient city of Jingzhou such as unscientific functional layout, crowded population, blocked roads and numerous old communities, which have restricted the development of cultural tourism in the ancient city.
In recent years, the work on the protection and evacuation of the ancient city has never been suspended. A number of schools, government agencies and hospitals such as Jingzhou Middle School, Ximen Middle School and Jingzhou District Committee have been evacuated out of the city, and the Party School of the CPC Jingzhou Municipal Committee and the Central Hospital will also be relocated. According to a person-in-charge at Jingzhou Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, the ancient city has been driving population evacuation by functional evacuation. So far, 48 evacuation projects have been completed, involving 12 schools, 3 hospitals and 33 administrative institutions. According to the new evacuation plan, 49 evacuation projects will be implemented within three years to further relieve the burden of the ancient city.
At the same time, the work on the renovation and demolition of old residential areas and control of the occurrence of unauthorized construction in the ancient city has been accelerated. Of all the 56 planned residential quarters, 36 have been renovated while the remaining 20 are going through the preliminary formalities. With 123,000 square meters of unauthorized construction having been demolished, the city has maintained a zero-growth rate in unauthorized construction.
Currently the city is actively making plans such as "comprehensive urban design around the ancient city" and "development model of the ancient city" in order to explore a new model for the protection of the ancient city and the development of its cultural tourism.
We should promote the protection, evacuation and utilization of the ancient city and the creation of a national 5A tourist spot in an overall way to be responsible for history, the city and future generations, a person-in-charge at the CPC Jingzhou Municipal Committee said. Every building in the ancient city should be accurately positioned and carefully designed, and the buildings, population, and business formats and style in the ancient city should be strictly managed so as to build a new pattern with high standards in which the development of the city depends on its water resources and the ancient elements and the modern elements are blended together.