The town of Lucaogou, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is doing everything it can to develop its tourism business and says it wants to become a town of leisure, a place where people can enjoy the beautiful lavender fields, the race course, and the countryside scenery.

Some people call the area "China’s Provence", referring to the southern French region known for its fields of lavender. And its government plans to make good use of its lavender by working with its companies in 2015 on related shops and products R&D base, and to improve facilities and the exhibition hall. The government also wants to help with guest houses and tourist product sales.

Luocaogou says it also wants to finish construction work on its race course in 2015, to promote horse racing and that shopping malls are also important for attracting tourists, so the town plans to build more hotels and shopping malls.

By Li Xiaoxu and edited by Roger Bradshaw