Drive eastward from Zhengzhou East Railway Station, and arrive at Dameng Town in about half an hour. A huge yellow rammed earth wall is engraved with the words "Only Henan".
This is Zhongmou County, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. It was once famous for its rich watermelon and garlic. Now it is dominated by the cultural and tourism industry, and has transformed into a tourism cluster with the most theme parks in Central Plains.
"In saline land, one gourd is planted and two bowls are collected." Local people used this ballad to describe the poverty of Zhongmou, a traditional agricultural county. In history, due to the flooding of the Yellow River many times, Zhongmu used to be covered with yellow sand. "When we mentioned Zhongmou in the early years, people only knew about watermelons and garlic." An old man in Zhongmou County told reporters that the changes in the past few decades were no better than those in recent years.
The opening of expressways, high-speed railways and intercity light rails has brought Zhongmou into the "half-hour life circle" of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng. Thanks to its unique geographical advantages and historical and cultural resources, Zhongmou has shifted its focus of development to the cultural and tourism industry.
In 2016, "Only Henan" Drama Magic City was settled in Zhongmu. "This is a drama fairyland with 21 theaters," said Liu Kaipeng, the brand manager of the scenic spot. It uses immersive drama art as a technique, unique "fairyland" buildings as a carrier, and tells stories about "land, food, inheritance" to make more people feel the charm of drama culture.
Passing through the entrance of the "Only Henan" Drama Fantastic City Scenic Spot, it is suddenly clear that nearly 100 mu of winter wheat has been exposed in front of the 328m long and 15m high huge rammed earth wall. "This is an important image, which expresses our look back on history and civilization." The announcer said that at night, when the light and shadow are projected on this wall, it will become a dynamic and super long picture. The Qingming River Map and the Thousand li River and Mountain Map will be shown in turn, bringing people visual and spiritual shock.
Finding and discovering intangible cultural heritage is a great pleasure to travel in the "Only Henan" Drama Magic City. In the intangible cultural heritage experience stores with different themes, tourists can enjoy the simple Baofeng puppet show, the vivid Fangcheng stone monkey, or make a wooden New Year picture by hand, mount it and take it home. "Cloth tiger and mud dog are Henan folk toys with cloth embroidery and clay sculpture painting as the main techniques, which are very popular with young people," said Liu Kaipeng.
"If you leave here and where you are going, please don't forget the land of Henan." Xu Liping, director of the Cultural Tourism Service Center of Zhongmou County, told the reporter that, as the saying of ramming the earth wall in the scenic spot expresses, "Only Henan" Drama Fantastic City is not only a theme park, but also a protection and inheritance of the Central Plains culture.
Starting from the Drama Fantastic City, there is a movie town 5 kilometers to the south. The numerous shops and rickshaw pullers on the street make people feel as if they have passed through the 1940s. This year's "May Day" holiday, the immersive performance "Crossing Dehua Street" launched by the film town is very popular. There are six performances every day, but one ticket is still hard to get.
"I like this form of performance, which has changed the traditional relationship between watching and performing. The audience is no longer the bystander of the story, but walks into the play, incarnates the protagonist, and becomes a witness to the history of old Zhengzhou." Mr. Liu, a tourist from Beijing, said.
In September this year, Zhengzhou Haichang Ocean Park opened, becoming a new member of Zhongmou Theme Park Group. "The superior geographical conditions of Zhongmou make us choose to settle here." Yao Xianghui, the relevant person in charge of the park, said that there are more than 50000 polar marine animals, such as white whales and emperor penguins, and it is the largest marine park in the Central Plains.
Now, 8 theme parks have been set up in Zhongmou, which has become a new engine for promoting cultural and tourism consumption and rural revitalization. During the Mid Autumn Festival National Day holiday this year, Yanming Crab Island Nature Dream City, Shawo Forest Park and other places have become popular clocking places for Zhengzhou and Kaifeng citizens to travel in the suburbs and for parent-child tours, and the surrounding characteristic homestays are almost fully booked. According to the data, during the Mid Autumn Festival National Day holiday this year, Zhongmou County received more than 2.94 million tourists.
"In the next step, Zhongmou will continue to do a good job in the transformation and upgrading of cultural, tourism, cultural and creative industries, adhere to the path of cultural and tourism integration, and work hard to create a high-quality modern cultural and tourism industry system along the Yellow River," said Ding Wenxia, secretary of Zhongmou County Party Committee.
