From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Chapter 727 - 697: Each Expresses Their Own Views

The main topic of the internal meeting held by the Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau on Monday was to discuss proposals, with Director Fu Guomin speaking first. He gave a brief summary of the work since the bureau’s establishment, stating that the purpose of today’s internal meeting was to gather collective wisdom and strive to come up with several effective proposals.As the May Day holiday approaches, Fu Guomin is under increasing pressure. During holidays, tourism bureaus across various regions face a test. Everyone will present data showing tourism revenue, the number of tourists, and per capita tourism income.

At the cultural tourism meeting held at Taiming Lake, Xu Chunliang once boasted in front of the provincial culture and tourism official Xing Wenhua, saying that this year, their Dongzhou’s tourism revenue growth rate would be the first in the province. Although Fu Guomin found this gratifying to say at the time, upon reflection, it seemed like an almost impossible task.

In private, Fu Guomin has conducted multiple simulations. Given the current status of Dongzhou’s tourism market, achieving the top position in provincial tourism revenue seems unlikely, unless a miracle occurs.

To be fair, Dongzhou’s current urban appearance is not good. Due to subway construction, the entire Dongzhou City has turned into a big construction site. Although there are many tourist spots, more than half of them are fragmented, making the tourism experience poor. The international resort at Weishan Lake is not yet complete and is too far from the city center. All indications suggest that it is difficult for Dongzhou tourism to make a leap forward in the short term.

Fu Guomin asked Li Yushan, the cultural director, to say a few words.

Li Yushan put on reading glasses and began to read his draft. Formerly a teacher, he liked to use literary jargon and spoke slowly. After entering politics, he developed a penchant for bureaucratic clichés. His speech was bland and soporific.

Xu Chunliang, hearing the beginning of Li Yushan’s eulogy, realized that Li Yushan’s speech was pointless. He looked at the time, noting a full schedule today and another meeting in the afternoon in Hu Shan Town. Qin Zhengyang had personally called him, saying it was important.

After fifteen minutes, Li Yushan still had not reached the main point. Fu Guomin could not listen any longer and interrupted him, saying, "Old Li, what you mean is..." He had already made a judgment. Li Yushan meant nothing significant; he did not have any effective proposals, just the usual emphasis on promoting Han culture and making it famous nationwide.

This slogan was not new. Dongzhou had been shouting it for decades. Indeed, it is the birthplace of the Great Han and the hometown of emperors. However, tourists truly interested in Han culture are a minority, and history is not an easy card to play. Can you compete with Chang’an in history, or with the East Capital? Even within the province, Dongzhou can’t compete with Nanjiang, the place where emperors from various dynasties established their capitals.

And Dongzhou? Historically a battleground continuously involved in wars, much of the good stuff was destroyed in conflict. What is constantly advertised now are just a few Han tombs, which are not unique to Dongzhou. Their combined scale is still not comparable to nearby Mangdang Mountain, which is already rated as a 5A-level attraction.

Li Yushan also realized he had spoken too long and smiled, saying, "What I mean is culture comes first, and we should play the Han culture card well."

Everyone silently cursed in their hearts, thinking if he had just said that earlier, it would have saved so much time. He rambled on far too long.

Xiao Dong also took out his draft, thinking he was next, as he ranked higher internally in the bureau. However, Fu Guomin turned his gaze to Fan Lidada, saying, "Lida, why don’t you say a few words."

Subconsciously, Xiao Dong clenched his draft, feeling a bit stifled. Recently, it was clear that Fu Guomin was favoring Fan Lidada, and everyone knew Fan Lidada was in favor, almost rising to the position of the bureau’s second-in-command.

Fan Lidada smiled and said, "I think the tourist attractions within Dongzhou City are too dispersed. In cities where tourism is done well, attractions form clusters or a line. In Dongzhou, the attractions are scattered, which severely affects the tourism experience. Recently, we invited famous people from Dongzhou back to visit their hometowns, and during a few forums, I was greatly inspired by a suggestion from Professor Pan Chengfeng from Nanjiang Art College. I’ll briefly share his thoughts with everyone."

Fu Guomin nodded. Although Fan Lidada was not as competent as Xu Chunliang, he was far better than the verbose and idle cadres like Li Yushan.

Fan Lidada briefly presented Pan Chengfeng’s opinion: to first connect these scattered attractions into a line, forming a central landscape axis in Dongzhou. Starting from the north at the Ancient Yellow River, the plan would rebuild structures such as the River View Tower, Five Provinces Crossroads Arch, Gulou, Confucius Temple, Old Government Office, City God Temple, linking to Huilongwo Old Street, Zhuangyuan Street, Museum, and Tuo Long Mountain.

After Fan Lidada finished, everyone present fell silent. The proposal from Pan Chengfeng had already been suggested before, and everyone thought it was good. However, no one deemed it feasible.

Dongzhou’s urban construction has always lacked planning, and city construction is extremely willful. The scenic axis suggested by Pan Chengfeng is interspersed with too many modern buildings, involving too many units and individuals, making it very difficult to connect.

Xiao Dong said, "Lida’s idea is good, but implementing it is nearly impossible. There are so many buildings in between—are we supposed to demolish all of them? Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t do it!"

Li Yushan agreed with Xiao Dong on this: "Even if we were able to demolish them, how many years would it take to build this scenic axis? By then, we might all have retired."

Fu Guomin said, "The idea is good and long-term. Although there are many obstacles, once successful, our people in Dongzhou, our descendants, will benefit immensely. I do not think it is impossible. Things need to be done step by step. Even if we cannot complete the scenic axis all at once, we can try to connect two, three, or even more attractions. We should aim to repair and rebuild as needed. For Dongzhou tourism to achieve something, we must be determined. Lida, this proposal will be your responsibility, and after completion, I will send it to the city for approval."

Fan Lidada nodded.

Xiao Dong said, "I agree with Director Fu’s idea that things should be done step by step. I believe we should first address the museum’s issues. The current museum exhibition area is already insufficient, and we have proposed an expansion plan. Moreover, opposite is Tuo Long Mountain, one of Dongzhou’s tourism icons. However, two attractions being separated by a street with constant traffic severely impacts the tourist experience. Maybe we should come up with a plan to first connect these two attractions."

Fu Guomin said, "Old Xiao, draft a proposal for this matter, and I’ll bring it up with the leadership." He listened intently, aware that after being away from Dongzhou for so long, he was not as knowledgeable as the others, so he was working hard recently to catch up.

All of their proposals focused on long-term plans, essentially the future plan for Dongzhou Culture and Tourism. However, long-term solutions do not address immediate needs. The bureau has just been established, and the city expects to see new results and achievements. The provincial culture and tourism officials are also closely monitoring them. Fu Guomin said, "Can everyone think of any ways to quickly enhance our level of culture and tourism in Dongzhou?"

Li Yushan and Xiao Dong exchanged glances, aware that Fu Guomin was eager to show achievements. The tourism sector cannot be rushed; attracting tourists in a short time is not easy.

Fan Lidada said, "In a little over two months, it will be Dongzhou’s traditional Fuyang Festival. I think we can work on this."

Li Yushan said, "The concept of the Fuyang Festival has been promoted for decades, yet its influence hasn’t even spread nationwide, not even beyond the province, and is restricted to a 300-mile radius around Dongzhou."

Xiao Dong said, "It doesn’t even reach 300 miles. Over in Hai Zhou, they don’t even have the habit of eating mutton. I feel the Fuyang Festival is just us entertaining ourselves with a few surrounding counties."

Fan Lidada said, "That’s because of inadequate promotion. If we strengthen our promotional efforts, the influence should be increased."

Fu Guomin said, "The Fuyang Festival must surely go on, but we need to consider the format—how to package it in the context of a new era to achieve maximum effect. Xiaoxu, what do you think from a young person’s perspective?"

Xu Chunliang was specially invited to attend this meeting. Being a junior, he originally had no speaking rights, but since Fu Guomin had given him this opportunity, he said a few words.

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "The Fuyang Festival isn’t until July, which is too far away. With the May Day holiday just around the corner, shouldn’t we first heat things up and make Dongzhou Culture and Tourism famous during that period?"

Li Yushan said, "May Day is just a few days away; how can we make it famous in such a short time?"

Xu Chunliang said, "Promotion!"

Xiao Dong said, "Promotion? It’s not like before; we’re promoting, and so are others. Even within the province, Dongzhou doesn’t have many points to promote."

Xu Chunliang said, "Even within the province, Dongzhou is quite different from other cities. Don’t you feel Dongzhou is an outlier in Pinghai?"

Fan Lidada laughed, "That’s true; Dongzhou people have more of the Qilu demeanor, eating big chunks of meat, and drinking large bowls of wine."

Xu Chunliang said, "I’ve listened carefully to the leaders’ speeches. While Dongzhou indeed has tourism resources, the developed attractions currently can’t compare to other cities in the province. Taking them out will only lead to being overshadowed. Therefore, the focus of our cultural tourism promotion shouldn’t be on tourist spots."

Xiao Dong chuckled, "If not the attractions, then what? To attract people to play, don’t you need decent attractions?"

Xu Chunliang said, "If we know we can’t compete, why force it? I’d like to ask everyone, what’s most important to you when you travel somewhere?"

Fan Lidada replied, "I can’t speak for others, but for me, it’s whether the food is good and the wine is good."

Everyone laughed.

Li Yushan thought and said, "First is the scenery, second is the culture, and third is the food."

Xiao Dong said, "I enjoy visiting museums, experiencing the local lifestyle, and tasting local specialty foods."