Second-tier cities begin flexing their muscles
Print Edition
A couple of decades ago the probability that an international conference would choose a Chinese mainland city over Hong Kong as its venue would have been minimal. Even a decade ago, choosing a second-tier city in China over Beijing or Shanghai did not make much sense. Today, however, these cities have come to be a new force.
The World Knowledge Forum will be held in China’s mainland for the first time; the venue for next month’s forum is Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province; last month Giorgio Armani released its latest perfume in Suzhou in east China’s Jiangsu Province; and the G20 (Group of 20) summit is to be held in Hangzhou next year.
According to the International Conference and Congress Association, China hosted 269 international conferences in 2013, 96 of them were held in cities other than Beijing and Shanghai.
Experts cite a variety of reasons for this change. Firstly, more qualified hotels and exhibition halls are being built in these cities; secondly, local governments offer preferential policies; and thirdly, these cities cost less. For some manufacturers, second- and third-tier cities are closer to their industrial clusters.
“Now MICE events in Beijing and Shanghai are less frequent, and to make activities more attractive, procurers actually need to increase the variety of destinations,” says Ni Hui, CEO of Grand China MICE Service Co.
Agrees Shu Tao, section chief of the MICE Department of Business Events Hangzhou under the Hangzhou Tourism Commission. “Years ago when international events came to China, they opted for Beijing and Shanghai, and now when they come, it is natural for them to choose some new places.”
“The gap between first-tier and second-tier cities’ MICE facilities, for example star hotels, is shrinking,” he adds. “Also second-tier cities show greater enthusiasm for events linked to certain industries, expecting them to be new economic growth points.”
Amid the tough competition, however, Hangzhou has its trump card: “soft environment.”
“Hangzhou’s MICE hardware may not be as good as first-tier cities, but its ‘soft environment’ wins out,” says Guo Mu, Zhejiang International Convention and Exhibition Association director.
History, culture and scenery, all count in the “soft environment.” Hangzhou is a picturesque city that served as the country’s capital eons ago, and it has a long history and rich culture of tea, silk, ceramic and Buddhism.
Originating in Hangzhou, Longjing green tea is considered one of the finest Chinese teas. The city boasts abundant mountains covered by tea bushes which sprout in spring. The China National Tea Museum amid the mountains welcomes hundreds of visitors from home and abroad every day.
Silk also originated in Hangzhou thousands of years ago. It is a city souvenir, which can also be bought at the China Silk Museum in Hangzhou.
As the saying goes, in north China there is Tong Ren Tang, in south China there is Hu Qing Yu Tang. The drugstore located alongside West Lake and Hefang Street in Hangzhou is a historically significant Chinese pharmaceutical company.
It was founded by Hu Xueyan, one of the most famous merchants in China. The drugstore opened in 1878 and it made more than 400 types of drug by collecting secret prescriptions, proven recipes and combining clinical practice.
Forget being a small city in old times, Hangzhou was in fact dubbed the “Buddhism city of southeast China,” for it boasted Lingyin Temple, as well as several smaller temples.
Lingyin Temple is a Buddhist temple of the Chan sect located in northwest Hangzhou. As one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China, it contains numerous pagodas and Buddhist grottoes.
Besides the temples, the Hangzhou Buddhism College, the Buddhism Library and Fayun Ancient Village that embraces Aman Fayun Resort full of zen spirit are also recommended.
Hangzhou is blessed with two world heritage sites, as named by UNESCO. One is the West Lake, a freshwater lake, and the other is the Grand Canal, the world’s longest artificial river running from Beijing to Hangzhou.
West Lake has influenced poets and painters throughout China’s history for its natural beauty and relics. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, and is described as having “influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries” and reflecting “an idealized fusion between humans and nature.”
The Grand Canal passes through 16 cities and links the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers. The oldest parts of the canal date back to 5th century BC, although the various sections were finally combined during the Sui Dynasty (AD 581–618).
The total length of the Grand Canal is about 1,800 kilometers. Historically it functioned as an important channel connecting south and north China. The faster trading allowed China’s culture and economy to improve.
Cruise and ferries are available on the old river’s Hangzhou section today.
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