The landscape in southern Anhui is notably picturesque, with the pristine waters of Xin'an River flowing through. Originating from Liugujian at an altitude of 1629 meters in Xiuning County, the Xin'an River winds eastward.

In October 2022, the "Xin'an River - Qiandao Lake Anhui-Zhejiang Inter-Provincial Route" was selected as the only "Unique Cultural Tour" route among the domestic waterway tourism passenger transport boutique routes pilot program.

Up to now, the pilot tasks have been completed, and the pilot objectives have also been achieved. The waterway tourism brand of "Xin'an Mountains and Waters Unique Cultural Tour" has essentially taken shape. This contributes to our province's efforts to deeply promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and accelerate the construction of the world-class leisure, vacation, and health tourism destination of Great Yellow Mountain.

Geographically, the "Xin'an River—Qiandao Lake Anhui-Zhejiang Inter-Provincial Route" spans a total length of 74 kilometers, passing through Zhangtan—Shendu—Jiekou—Qiandao Lake.

Today, departing from Shendu Port, there are two fixed routes available for sightseeing along the Xin'an River and Qiandao Lake. One is the upstream scenic gallery route, which takes about 3 hours round trip. The other is the downstream direct route to Qiandao Lake, with departures in the morning and returns in the afternoon. Both routes are extremely popular.

The inauguration and subsequent popularity of the Xin'an River - Qiandao Lake Anhui-Zhejiang Inter-Provincial Route is the result of concerted efforts from multiple parties.

Since being selected as a pilot for the domestic waterway tourism passenger transport boutique route, this route has welcomed 1.5 million visitors. During this period, Huangshan City has taken the lead in the province by achieving "zero discharge" of ship sewage. Huangshan Port has fully completed the construction of facilities for the reception, transfer, and disposal of ship pollutants, establishing a joint supervision mechanism. This has led to the integration of "ship-port-city" and the creation of a seamless "collection-reception-transfer-disposal" model for ship pollutant treatment.

The rapid growth of waterway tourism has spurred the development of local supporting services such as homestays and agritainment, providing most of the employment opportunities for local villagers, boosting the sales of local specialties, increasing the income of residents on both banks, and transforming several villages along the route from "small fishing villages" into "tourist villages." The boutique route has notably driven rural revitalization. In 2023, the collective operational income of Zhangtan, Miantan, and Jiusha Villages along the route increased by 17.5%, 17.7%, and 25.4% respectively compared to the previous year, with the per capita income of villagers growing by 7%.

Source: anhuinews.com