Shifang City's "Glacier Star" Rural Tourism Project Progresses Smoothly

A rural tourism development project in Shifang City, Sichuan Province, is advancing steadily, bringing new economic opportunities to local residents.

At the construction site in Yinghua Town's Glacier Community, 56-year-old relocated resident Shi Xiu expressed optimism about the project: "With government funding for this tourism initiative, our neighborhood environment will improve. More visitors mean we can develop businesses like local product sales, catering, and homestays—our livelihoods will definitely get better."

Deng Shaobo, an official from Shifang's Water Resources and Hydropower Resettlement Center, explained that Shi Xiu is among the 927 resettled residents (261 households) from Bajiao Reservoir area. The "Glacier Star Rural Tourism Project," with a total budget of 42.3899 million yuan, is a key post-resettlement support program for medium-sized reservoir areas.

The project, which broke ground before September 30, has completed about 40% of construction. It focuses on four aspects: infrastructure upgrades, industrial support facilities, cultural venues, and public service improvements.

Located in the Longmen Mountains at 798 meters elevation, Glacier Community currently has 1,902 residents across 595 households. Projections indicate annual economic benefits of approximately 5.08 million yuan after completion—including 420,000 yuan for collective economy and 4.46 million yuan (5,252 yuan per capita) for resettled residents. The initiative will also enhance living standards, improve living environments, and realize ecological value conversion.

To ensure operational effectiveness, a "professional operator + village collective" model will be implemented post-construction. Yinghua Town's Baozhuyuan Village collective will entrust Shifang Hengyang Cultural Tourism Development Co. with operations, marketing, and management, with the operating company assuming business risks.

Shifang City adopted an Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) model to boost efficiency, incorporating the project into county-level cultural tourism task forces. Water authorities established supervision teams and commissioned professional agencies for project management.

Current progress includes: - Completed demolition and component installation for corridor bridges - Site clearance/base leveling for multiple plaza projects - Simultaneous road surfacing, sidewalk paving, and river dredging - Accelerated construction of public toilets and eco-parking lots