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Case study of national-level tourism resorts: Key points for the development of mountain and forest tourism resort projects

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2025-04-23


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Editor-in-Chief | Yang Ming

Editor | Jing Xiangyuan

Source  |  Haisen Culture and Tourism

In this era that pursues harmony between nature and the soul, tourism and vacation are not merely simple sightseeing, but a deep experience, a reliance for emotions and spirit. When we focus on the development of tourism and vacation projects, we often first examine their natural resource advantages. Mountainous forests, with their unique natural scenery, have become an important advantage in the development of tourism and vacation projects.

Among the 85 national-level tourism and vacation areas, mountains, lakes, coastal areas, and hot springs are the four main types. Mountainous forest-type tourism and vacation areas account for a certain proportion (17.78% of the total), and mountainous forest resources are also often encountered in the development of health and wellness vacation projects. Therefore, in this issue, we will analyze the key points of the development of "mountainous forest-type" tourism and vacation projects through case studies of national-level tourism and vacation areas.


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Case Study 1: Shanghai Sheshan National Tourism Resort





The Shanghai Sheshan National Tourism Resort is a comprehensive tourism resort integrating entertainment, sightseeing, conferences, leisure, vacation, and residential functions. It is the only national tourism resort located in a municipality directly under the Central Government approved by the State Council. The total planned area is 64.08 square kilometers, and the core area is 10.88 square kilometers.



 Picture Shanghai Sheshan National Tourism Resort


1. Development Model: Scenic Spots + Theme Parks + Tourism Functional Projects + Vacation Real Estate


2. Management Organization: Sheshan National Tourism Resort Management Committee, with a daily operating agency, the Shanghai Sheshan National Tourism Resort Management Committee Office


3. Core Projects: The Shanghai Sheshan National Tourism Resort has 4 4A-level scenic spots, 3 5-star hotels, and a number of tourism functional projects with wide influence, including the Guangfulin Cultural Site and theme parks.


4. Core Characteristics:

(1) High-quality Scenic Spot Clusters + Unique Theme Parks

The resort has 4 4A-level scenic areas: Sheshan National Forest Park, Yuehu Sculpture Park, Chenshan Botanical Garden, and Shanghai Happy Valley, as well as theme parks and leisure tourism areas such as Maya Water Park, Shanghai Shimao Smurfs Paradise, Yuehu Ji Gao Rabbit Wo Wo Pancoat Paradise, Guangfulin Cultural Site, and Sheshan Our Lady's Church, meeting the vacation and leisure needs of different tourists.


(2) High-end Leisure Projects and Tourism Real Estate Drive Up the Grade and Quality of the Resort

The resort is equipped with leisure venues such as the Shanghai Sheshan International Golf Club, the Shanghai Tianma Race Track, and the Tianma Country Club. Tourism real estate such as Shimao Sheshan Manor, Shimao Yuehu Mountain Villa, and Shanghai Zi Garden have been developed, effectively driving regional development.


(3) Reception System Led by Five-Star Hotels, Supplemented by Characteristic Boutique Hotels, and Supported by Other Types of Hotels

Five-star hotels such as the Sheshan Shimao InterContinental Hotel (currently the world's only pit hotel), the Shimao Sheshan Le Méridien Hotel, the Shanghai Sofitel Oriental Hotel, and other mid-to-high-end tourism reception facilities such as the Sheshan Forest Hotel, Lansun Mountain Villa, and the International Convention Center can meet the needs of various conferences, business, and leisure vacations.


 Picture Songjiang Guangfulin Hilton Hotel


(4) Rich Sporting Events Enhance the Resort's Reputation
The resort actively hosts domestic and international racing events, the HSBC Champions Golf Tournament, the Sheshan New Year's Day Climbing Activity, the International Half Marathon, the Color Run, the Sheshan Orienteering Race, the Yuehu Model Aircraft and Drone Racing, the Shanghai (Sheshan) Aviation Carnival, and other popular events. Daily outdoor activities also include deep pit rock climbing, stand-up paddleboarding, bungee jumping, sailing, kayaking, drone model aircraft, camping, and cycling. In 2021, it was included in the list of national sports tourism demonstration bases.




Reference Case Study 2: Dayu Yushan Tourism Resort





The Yushan Tourism Resort is located in Dalong Village, Huanglong Town, Dayu County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. It covers an area of more than 30,000 mu. It is named after its highest peak, Shuangxiu Peak, which is shaped like the letter "Y". It has been rated as one of China's most beautiful villages, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, a national-level tourism resort, and a national rural tourism creator demonstration base. It is also a bridgehead for Ganzhou's cultural and tourism integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

1. Development Model: Forest Tourism + Leisure Vacation + Forest Sports + Forest Health + Cultural Study Tour

2. Management Organization: Dayu Zhangyuan Ecological Tourism Co., Ltd.

3. Core Projects: Forest tourism and sports and leisure projects such as cloud sea tree houses, ink fragrance study, cloud wild inn, RV camping, and an off-road base.

4. Core Characteristics:
(1) Forest Tourism + Leisure Vacation
Since its planning and construction, the Yushan Tourism Resort has set aside 600 mu for the development of ecological leisure agriculture. High mountain tea fields, orchards, under-forest gardens, and mountain spring ponds are popular places for tourists to experience under-forest sightseeing, parent-child picking, outdoor fishing, and DIY home-cooked meals. The three A Duo parks have created characteristic leisure check-in points such as suspension bridges, fruit and vegetable corridors, four-season flower seas, glass walkways, sky mirrors, Duo Qi Le leisure bars, and country bars.


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Create a characteristic forest vacation lifestyle. Eight characteristic mountain residences are distributed in a stepped manner from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain: Yunye Inn for sunrise viewing and off-road vacations; Jiucheng Mountain House and Daoyuan Academy for cloud sea viewing and cultural health preservation; Dalongshan Ecological Hotel and Chunqiu She for bamboo sea health and wellness vacations; as well as Nongshang Street, Fengyeli Inn Street, Flower Sea Inn, Tea Field Inn groups, various forest farmers' inns, and RV camping. Mature supporting landscape catering bases, fairyland conference venues, sports and leisure and characteristic entertainment, and shopping facilities are complete.


(2) Forest Tourism + Sports

Yashan Tourism Resort, relying on the original forest landforms and mountain culture resources, has gradually built a complete system of Yashan forest sports. It has created three major mountain village themed ecological parks—A Duo Forest, A Duo Countryside, and A Duo Water Village, which contain nearly 100 characteristic sports and leisure projects, including rural sports, water sports, adventure sports, ball games, and BMX bicycle racing, and can accommodate tens of thousands of tourists at the same time; it also introduces the mass car culture brand and develops a new power off-road base, further enriching and improving the connotation of forest off-road vacation.


(3) Forest Tourism + Health Preservation

Based on the natural healing environment of the unity of man and nature, introducing advanced international health management concepts, it has successively created high-end health preservation service platforms such as Yashan Health Care Center, Yashan Sports Rehabilitation Center, Yashan Hydrotherapy Center, and Bamboo Forest Medicine Spring Valley. There are also nearly 50 health and leisure projects such as traditional physiotherapy and tea ceremony, flower arrangement, incense ceremony, and health-preserving diet therapy organically combined with ecological vacation, creating a new way of mind and body natural health preservation vacation life.

(4) Forest Tourism + Cultural Research
Fully excavating the profound historical and cultural elements of Dayu, carefully creating six major cultural tourism bases.
  • Relying on the support of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, inviting CCTV anchors Hai Xia, Chen Liang, and Zhang Yue to give lectures, establishing a broadcasting and hosting practice base in Yashan;

  • Based on the beautiful geographical environment, inviting famous teachers and experts to set up museums and teach, creating a calligraphy, painting, and music art base; rebuilding the millennium national studies temple—Daoyuan Academy, experiencing the essence of Zhou Cheng's Neo-Confucianism and Wang Yangming's mind learning, creating a Neo-Confucianism and mind learning base;

  • Taking "Lingyan Ancient Temple, Lingxiu Yashan" as the theme, improving temple buildings, bamboo forest courtyards, vegetarian restaurants, etc., showing the distant artistic conception of "temple Zen", "natural Zen", and "life Zen", creating a Zen culture base;

  • Yashan Tourism Resort takes the forest as its teacher, allowing ecology to enlighten wisdom, continuously integrating the superior characteristic resources of forest tourism, and striving to create a natural education platform for the benefit of all people;

  • Relying on Meiling Three Chapters Memorial Hall, Southern Red Army Three-Year Guerrilla War Memorial Hall and other broader red resources in this county and the three provinces of Gan, Yu, and Xiang, developing rich characteristic products and routes such as party building, group building, and red research and training, creating a red research and training base;

  • Relying on the six major agricultural bases of Yashan, building a professional teaching service team, creatively developing popular research topics such as forest research, agricultural research, mountain exploration, ecological group building, and natural science popularization, creating an agricultural research base.



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Key Analysis





1. All-altitude sports science popularization and sightseeing, mountain foot summer resort vacation, and unlimited tourism at the foot of the mountain.

A large number of resort projects are located in the mid-low mountains. Summer resort projects are suitable for mid-low mountains. Sports sightseeing and science popularization projects run through various sections of the mountains. In general, the amount of land use is inversely proportional to the construction altitude. The resources at the foot of the mountain are mostly natural pastoral scenery, suitable for developing cultural tourism supporting leisure areas and production areas. The resources at the foot of the mountain are mostly natural and folk villages, suitable for developing tourism real estate, tourism distribution, and health preservation and other leisure products. The resources in the mountains are mostly forest resources and natural landscapes corresponding to mountains and rivers, suitable for developing science popularization and sightseeing, mountain sports, small-scale niche resort functions, leisure health preservation, and tourism resorts. The resources on the mountain are mostly dangerous, the best viewing points, and religious temples, suitable for developing extreme sightseeing, extreme sports, and characteristic accommodation.



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2. Large dispersion-small aggregation spatial distribution.      

Mountain resort tourism development should follow the direction of mountain shape and terrain, "dispersed" layout in river valleys, plains, and low mountain areas, connected by road systems and landscape recreation systems, forming a large dispersion-small aggregation spatial distribution. The land distribution characteristics of mountain tourism space are three-dimensional composite and small supply. The whole land is spatially divided and blocked by mountains and valleys, forming a "dispersed" land use layout.



 Picture Dali Cangshan West Slope Pastoral Forest Health Preservation Resort


3. Experiential-convenient three-dimensional transportation organization connecting space.
Connecting various blocks through projects such as glass corridors, aerial walkways, pastoral paths, mountain trails, walking paths, and slow-moving lanes, or connecting various projects through experiential transportation tools such as slides, cable cars, zip lines, ropeways, and forest trains, to solve the inconvenience caused by the height difference in the mountains.

4. Special + conventional product combination.
The core attraction of mountain tourism resorts is built by special projects, forming the core of tourism attraction. Leisure gathering centers and extension centers mostly have conventional projects to ensure popularity and profitability. Special project development requires professionalization. Ski resorts are designed and developed according to the specifications of professional events such as championships and Olympic Games, or to win by scale; golf projects are designed according to the specifications of professional events such as world championships, or to win by scale and characteristics, such as lakeside mountain golf; hot springs win by "health preservation function + complete supporting facilities"; churches and conference projects pay more attention to "brand, service quality, and refinement". Conventional project development requires mountain characteristics, such as developing mountain-based stilted buildings and wild luxury hotels according to climate characteristics, and building mountain streets according to terrain and economic conditions.


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Recommended Important Cultural and Tourism Events

2025 Water Park Quality Improvement and Efficiency Enhancement Senior Executive Training Class

May 8-9, Hangzhou Kaiyuan Senbo Paradise


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