While some parents are wondering where to take their children during the long summer break, two options have emerged: a beach getaway from home or an exploration of the heirlooms.
The Aranya Beach Network in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, and the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan Province, were recently indexed as two of the “World’s Largest Places in 2024: One Hundred Extraordinary Destinations to Explore” through Time magazine.
The Aranya network, about two-and-a-half hours from Beijing by bullet train, attracts young Chinese visitors for its minimalist design and otherworldly serenity, Time said in a July 25 report.
Yang Zhenning, director of the network, said that the Aranya structure began in 2013 and now covers more than three hundred hectares along the Bohai Sea.
“Our core concept is that life can be more beautiful,” Yang said, adding that the network has invested heavily in design and architecture.
“We invited leading designers from around the world to create a spatial formula of maximum aesthetic, spiritual, emotional and functional value, constructing buildings such as hotels and restaurants within the community,” Yang said.
Residents and tourists in the network can enjoy a variety of services, such as libraries and bookstores, that satisfy tourists’ other desires.
Upon entering the community, tourist Li Xue noticed its exquisite architecture.
“I took countless photographs of the buildings incorporating aesthetic design elements,” said the 38-year-old Beijing doctor.
He drove from the capital until that weekend last month.
In addition to the visual pleasure, what inspired Li to the fullest was the quality of service and the warmth and attention he received.
“Whether asking for directions or recommending attractions, the staff members’ attitude and quality of service were warm and enthusiastic,” he said.
About 80% of the community’s tourists come from Beijing, and some also come from parts of China such as Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Tianjin, according to Yang. The number of foreign tourists has also increased, he added.
From January to June, Aranya garnered 1. 37 million views. In July, the network experienced continuous rainy days for part of the month and garnered 352,000 visits, about the same amount as last year.
In Guanghan, the Sanxingdui Museum has an exhibition area of 22,000 square meters, displaying more than 1,500 sets of cultural relics, as well as ceramics, bronze, jade, gold and ivory from the Sanxingdui ruins.
Covering an area of 12 square kilometers, the Sanxingdui ruins, where the museum is located, feature the remains of an ancient city, sacrificial pits, residential spaces and tombs.
Researchers say the site was established between 2,800 and 4,800 years ago and archaeological finds show it was a thriving and highly evolved cultural centre.
The site was discovered in 1929 when Yan Daocheng, a local villager, unearthed a pit full of jade and stone objects while repairing a sewage ditch on the side of his house.
Since the 1930s, archaeologists have been excavating here and made a breakthrough in 1984 when the remains of large palaces and parts of the east, west and south walls of an ancient city were discovered.
In 1986, two giant pits filled with bronze objects, as well as masks and figurines, were dug. The discoveries showed that the site included the ruins of a city that was the political, economic, and cultural center of the ancient Shu Kingdom, an ancient civilization that existed in present-day Sichuan Province.
It is one of the most important archaeological discoveries made in China in the last century.