Highway project

Meanwhile, work on a new highway is due to start this month.

The link, which will connect Huanjiang with Libo, Guizhou, a scenic location known for its karst mountains, will be the first highway to pass through Huanjiang, according to the county government.

Huang Bingfeng, the county head and a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, said Huanjiang has tourism resources that rival those in Libo, which welcomes more than 20 million visitors a year due to bridge-building and other infrastructure projects in recent years.

However, only 2 million visitors arrive in Huanjiang annually, he said, adding, "The highway will help divert some tourists to the county."

Guizhou Party secretary Sun Zhigang said at a news conference in Beijing in 2019 that the province had earned the title "the world's museum for bridges" due to numerous construction projects that have resulted in nearly half the world's 100 highest bridges falling within its jurisdiction.

Huang, an ethnic Maonan, said he suggested during the recently concluded annual two sessions that another highway be built linking the county with Rongjiang, Guizhou, which is known for its revolutionary-themed scenic spots, which attract "red tourism". The suggestion was greeted enthusiastically among delegates from the transportation sector.

The infrastructure projects underway are part of a broader effort by local authorities to build a "one-hour economic zone" for the once-impoverished county.

Huang said that when the projects are completed, Huanjiang will be just one hour from major nearby cities by train or car.

"I believe these projects will help usher in a new era for local tourism, agriculture and industry," he said, adding that the county is catching up in fields such as electronic manufacturing and clean energy.