Hong Kong Commercial Daily — Exploring Maoming: A Journey Through History and Natural Wonders
By He An’an, He Jiamin, Wu Hongyu, Sun Lei, Ning Jiewen, Shen Weifeng, Cai Yicheng, and Xu Chuanjun.
The Greater Bay Area Media Delegation poses for a group photo at Gong Garden. (Photo by Ning Jiewen)
May 17th to 21st, The Third Li Hong Season — Media Exploration of Maoming event, jointly organized by the Hong Kong Commercial Daily and the Maoming Municipal Committee Propaganda Department, in collaboration with Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, Shenzhen Evening News, Hong Kong Economic Journal, and Macau Daily Times, was held in Maoming, Guangdong.
New Lake Park (Photo provided by the Maoming Municipal Committee Propaganda Department)
Hutou Mountain (Photo provided by the Maoming Municipal Committee Propaganda Department)
The visiting delegation embarked on a journey through the “Living Lychee Museum” — Gong Garden, engaging in dialogue with millennium-old lychee trees, experiencing the rich culture of Maoming’s lychee. They also visited China’s first coastal tourism destination, capturing moments on its romantic coastline, and explored the transformation of the former largest open-pit mine in Asia into an ecological park, listening to the story of its rebirth.
“Lychee” Infuses New Life: Millennium-Old Lychees Attract Visitors from All Over
Accompanied by guardians of ancient trees, the visiting delegation strolled through the ancient lychee trees at Gong Garden. Situated in Bajiao Village, Genzi Town, Gaozhou City, Gong Garden was established during the Sui and Tang dynasties. It is the largest lychee garden in China, boasting a long history, well-preserved ancient lychee trees, and a wide variety of lychee species. It is renowned as the “Lychee Museum.”
According to He Shuzhi, a member of the Party Committee of Bajiao Village, Gong Garden covers an area of about 80 acres. There are 39 lychee trees over 500 years old and 9 lychee trees over 1300 years old.
The historical and cultural significance carried by these ancient lychee trees has transformed Gong Garden from a mere fruit orchard into a famous tourist attraction. The journalists encountered many tourists who had come from afar to take photos in front of the ancient lychee trees.
In April 2023, during his inspection of Bajiao Village, Genzi Town, Gaozhou City, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to further develop the lychee industry and cultural tourism in Maoming. Maoming has taken multiple measures to promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture, tourism, and commerce, accelerating the development of lychee cultural tourism. Leveraging platforms such as the China Lychee Expo, China Lychee Industry Conference, and National Lychee Germplasm Resource Nursery, Maoming has successfully been designated as a research base for primary and secondary school students in Guangdong. It has organized lychee-themed study activities, attracting over 20,000 students. Both Gong Garden and China Lychee Expo attract more than 300,000 and 600,000 visitors annually, respectively.
Model of Guangdong’s New Rural Area: Genzi Town, Gaozhou City (Photo provided by the Maoming Municipal Committee Propaganda Department)
Simultaneously, the construction of lychee industry experience zones, lychee-themed hotels, and photography creative bases is underway. Maoming’s efforts in leveraging the lychee industry contribute to the continuous development of cultural tourism.
Stringing Pearls Along the Coastal Belt: Empowering Cultural and Tourism Development
Basking in the comfortable sea breeze, the visiting delegation strolled along China’s first coastal tourism destination, located in Nanhai Peninsula, Dianbai District, Maoming City. It is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, often referred to as the “Oriental Hawaii.”
China’s Number One Beach (Photo by He An’an)
The tour guide introduced the three wonders of the area: “the greenest forest, the longest beach, and the clearest water,” which have earned it the reputation of being the “Number One Beach in China.” The area boasts a 100-mile protective forest, known as the “Green Great Wall,” the first successful artificial forest protection zone in China, from which the famous Chinese painting “Green Great Wall” by master painter Guan Shanyue draws inspiration.
The delegation also visited Yanjing Danya Village, a key node on the “two-point-one-line” of the Nanhai Island. Leveraging its unique coastal ecological resources, Maoming has unearthed its marine cultural heritage, creating various scenes around historical legacies such as the Xian’s Wife Culture, Li Ethnic Culture, Danya Culture, and Fishermen Culture, showcasing Maoming’s village culture.
The village street is charming, with red brick and tile houses arranged in an orderly manner, quaint Li people’s towers and pavilions, wide streets, and neatly arranged shops, fully demonstrating the characteristics of a coastal fishing village. The emergence of new formats in Danya Village has boosted the “beautiful economy” of Tangxia Fishing Village. It receives more than 500,000 visitors annually.
Currently, Danya Village will leverage its advantages as a provincial-level demonstration area for the comprehensive protection and utilization of coastal zones on Nanhai Island, focusing on “wedding + tourism” as its core. It will introduce the Guangdong Marriage and Family Comprehensive Service Center, providing one-stop wedding services, vigorously promoting the development of the photography industry, and becoming a breakthrough in tourism products on Nanhai Island.
The Romantic Coast, a resort themed on love and romance, is located in the Maoming Coastal New Area, nestled between mountains and the sea, with unique natural and cultural resources including beautiful mountains, exotic rocks, coconut groves, silver beaches, reefs, and fishing ports. Its 5.3-kilometer pristine coastline stretches from east to west, with wide and gentle beaches, soft and white sand, and clear blue sea. Visitors can relax and enjoy seafood delicacies here. It also features a large-scale romantic honeymoon wedding photography base. With a backdrop of 180-degree invincible sea views, coconut winds, and a blend of natural mountain views, lake views, sea views, Balinese, and Maldivian styles, it exudes the exotic charm of Southeast Asia. The Romantic Coast is committed to leveraging high-quality coastal tourism resources, introducing international high-end hotel brands, and leading the development of photography industry, creating a one-stop, international, ecological, high-quality, and boutique seaside tourism destination suitable for all seasons.
Venue of the China Lychee Industry Conference (Photo by He An’an)
Rebirth Through Nirvana: Oil City Spirit Paints the Grand Picture of the Ecological Park
Maoming, known as the “Southern Oil City,” has a rich history. To gain deeper insights into Maoming’s history, the visiting delegation visited the Maoming Open-Pit Mine Ecological Park, formerly known as the Maoming Petrochemical Jintang Open-Pit Mine. The park covers an area of 10.07 square kilometers, consisting of a 6-square-kilometer mining pit lake and over 8,000 acres of ecological forest land.
In October 2013, the Maoming Municipal Government proposed to transform the Jintang Open-Pit Mine into a mountain park, implementing a comprehensive plan of “water diversion, afforestation, museum construction, and road construction,” and through ecological restoration, the former urban “scars” have transformed into an ecological park rich in historical and cultural characteristics.
Today, the Maoming Open-Pit Mine Ecological Park is a green and ecological gem, shining brightly as a model of ecological civilization. The Maoming Open-Pit Mine Museum is located here, where the visiting delegation learned about the historical and cultural significance of the Maoming Open-Pit Mine and listened to the story of its rebirth, experiencing the unique charm of Maoming City.
With the beautiful scenery of Haixin Lake as its center and surrounded by flowers and trees, Maoming’s mining culture and oil city spirit have painted a grand picture of the ecological park. The current ecological park presents a leisurely and entertaining scene with rippling waves, colorful flowers, birds singing, and tourists flocking, becoming a new leisure destination for citizens.
Maoming has abundant tourism resources, with both mountains and seas, where natural landscapes blend with cultural relics. The visiting delegation experienced the rich culture of western Guangdong in this city, which faces the sea and blossoms all year round. As an emerging tourist destination, Maoming is constantly advancing its cultural and tourism development. Maoming has always been on the road to promoting cultural tourism.