June 10, 2025 – Gannan, China
Dozens of journalists and digital influencers from 29 countries and regions—including Canada, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, and more—gathered in Xiahe County, Gansu Province, on June 9 to explore the vibrant culture, ecological preservation, and tourism potential of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Their visit marked the launch of the “Sacred Gannan: A Journey of the Soul” 2025 global culture and tourism media campaign.
As part of the program, the delegation immersed themselves in traditional grassland performances and captured the region’s rich cultural and natural heritage through photos, videos, and stories aimed at an international audience.
“I used to imagine the north as a dry, windswept wasteland,” said Hung Hoi Nga, Director of the New Media Centre at the Macau Commercial Daily. “But driving from Lanzhou to Xiahe, I was struck by how green and modern everything felt.” For many southern media professionals like Hung, this trip upended long-held assumptions. She pointed to lush roadside shelterbelts, smart-guided rest stops, clean rural homestays, and standardized tourist signage as evidence of Gansu’s balanced progress.
Hung plans to focus her coverage on Gannan’s strategies for harmonizing ecological protection with economic development—an approach she believes will resonate with environmentally conscious readers in Macau.
After watching an open-air folk performance on the Sangke Grassland, Lee Woojung, a journalist with South Korea’s Segye Ilbo, noted, “Koreans often travel to cities like Shanghai and Qingdao for quick getaways, but Gannan offers something completely different—an immersive cultural and natural experience.” With new charter flights linking Lanzhou and Seoul, Lee believes Gannan could become a major long-haul destination for South Korean travellers.
In his upcoming feature, Lee plans to highlight Gannan’s Danxia landforms in the Ganga region and the pastoral lifestyle of Sangke’s nomadic communities. “These landscapes and traditions are unlike anything we have in Korea—they’re Gannan’s unique selling point,” he said.
That evening, during a tourism development briefing, Deputy County Chief Sangjijia outlined Xiahe’s ambitious goals. Projects nearing completion include a ¥230 million ($43 million CAD) grass-skiing facility on Sangke Grassland, and upgrades to Ganga Scenic Area as it pursues top-tier 5A national tourist site status. A new intangible cultural heritage street is also planned near the historic Labrang Monastery.
“We’re solving the challenge of short stays and long journeys,” Sangjijia added, referring to the frequent issue of travellers spending little time despite travelling far. A ¥120 million ($22 million CAD) expansion of Xiahe Airport is nearly finished and will soon allow direct flights to Chengdu and Xi’an. Meanwhile, a proposed self-driving route—linking iconic destinations like Zhagana and Langmusi—aims to support 5-to-7-day travel circuits.
County Mayor Wang Honglin emphasized Xiahe’s growing profile as a tourism destination. The town was named a “Deep Breathing Small Town of Beautiful China” in 2022, added to the “Featured Vacation Destinations” list in 2023, and is among China’s “Top 100 Small Cities Worth Visiting” in 2025.
“Through the lenses of global media,” Wang said, “we want the world to discover that Gannan is not only home to breathtaking natural beauty, but also a living legacy of Tibetan culture.”
