Cold winter temperatures haven't stopped tourists from visiting Zhouzhuang. In front of the ancient archway there was a slogan that said "Beautiful China, Beautiful Zhouzhuang". Visitors immersed themselves in the beautiful scenery of Zhouzhuang ancient town.

As the best tourist destination in China, Zhouzhuang needs to do more than just promote tourism transformation. It must also advocate a low carbon economy, build an ecological civilization and improve people's livelihood.

Tourism Transformation

The Zhouzhuang scenic spot received four million tourists in 2012, among which 41 percent were individual travelers. Zhouzhuang's tourism structure has been optimized. The achievement was realized through tourism transformation and upgrades, which in turn promotes further transformation and upgrade.

Zhao Kunyuan, secretary of the Party committee, said that Zhouzhuang has been devoted to tourism transformation and has made great achievements. However, problems are still obvious when compared with Lijiang and Wuzhen. Tourists often come to Zhouzhuang and leave on the same day without staying for the night. Secondary consumption has become a prominent problem. To solve this problem, Zhouzhuang needs to complete service functions in the scenic area and develop tourism outside the area.

Actually Zhouzhuang has made useful explorations following this idea. On one hand, the scenic area has brought in and developed distinctive cultural spots and inns. A recreation and leisure atmosphere has been formed. Other forms of leisure will also be launched in the near future.

On the other hand, developing tourism outside the scenic area is a big deal. The Kangsheng tourism complex project is under construction. This project will cover an area of 14 hectares and has a top grade hotel and performance center. Kangsheng will connect outside development with scenic area development when finished. More projects will also be brought in according to current planning.

Construction of People's Livelihood

Zhouzhuang has always ranked high in modern satisfaction surveys. Zhouzhuang managed to balance urban and rural development with improving people's livelihood. Zhouzhuang spares no effort to make villages and villagers rich. Carrier projects were developed to expand collective economy, and villagers are encouraged to establish their own businesses.

"The ultimate purpose of development is to ensure people a better life," said Zhao Kunyuan. Innovation exploration will be done next, focusing on people's livelihood, social programs and social management.

Ecological Civilization and Green Growth

Water is of great importance in Zhouzhuang, half of the 38-square-kilometer township is water. Zhouzhuang started a water conservancy project to improve flood and drain water-logging ability and to ameliorate the ecological environment. Meanwhile, the project will create advantages to develop northern water tourism.

Ecological civilization construction was actively integrated into the process of tourism transformation and upgrade. For example, the environment was considered prior to the start of the Kangsheng tourism complex. Environmental protection is important to investors and has been realized in project construction. An ecological revetment project will also be planned around the ancient town area to improve its ecological environment and tourism quality as well as to promote tourism transformation and upgrade.