A river in Xayar county, Aksu Prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Photo: VCG

Surrounded by an enchanting poplar forest in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a woman dressed in Etles silk, a traditional fabric made by the Uygur people, dances under falling golden poplar leaves, looking like a "fairy" from myth. She walks slowly around with a smile on her face as she introduces viewers to the desert poplar forest in Xayar county, Xinjiang's Aksu Prefecture. 

This is a scene from a video that has grabbed the attention of Chinese netizens, who have hailed it as one of the most beautiful tourism promotions on social media.

This elegant lady is not an actress but the director of the Xayar County Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism - Renaguli Reheman. 

Among a flood of recent hit videos involving "a competition" among ­Chinese local officials to promote tourism, videos from Reheman's public account on Douyin have once again gone viral on social media.

"I don't think I'm an internet celebrity. The real internet celebrity is the beauty of our hometown. I'm just contributing my tiny efforts to get more people to see the beauty of Xayar and come here for a visit," Reheman told the Global Times on Monday.

Renaguli Reheman, director of the Xayar County Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism Photo: Courtesy of Renaguli Reheman

Huge success

Reheman recalled that the idea to introduce Xayar county's plentiful tourism resources through short videos was inspired by another official in Zhaosu county in Xinjiang's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture whose short video of him riding a horse in the snow broke the mold for officials promoting tourism and successfully helped to promote local tourism. 

She and her team thought if making short videos could bring real benefits to local tourism, why not give it a shot? 

A tall woman with luxurious eyebrows, large eyes and long black hair, Reheman is very photogenic. However, she had zero experience when it came to standing in front of the camera, so she was very nervous and self conscious during their first shoot. 

Like many Uygur people, Reheman loves to sing and dance, so she decided to integrate folk dance into the bureau's short video ads.

Reheman said shooting the videos was not easy. Thinking that having her ride a camel would be a good fit for a desert tourism promotion, she decided to challenge herself by riding the tall animal even though she was afraid of falling off. While promoting a scenic highway near the poplar forest, Reheman spent two days learning to ride a motorcycle.

Her videos quickly became a hit on social media. This success she attributes to the dazzling historical and cultural resources in the county. Since October 2021, her account has released more than 50 videos on social media platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou and China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, attracting more than 900,000 followers and earning over 220 million views as of Monday.

Booming industry

Reheman is just one of the many local officials who are promoting county tourism with fresh ideas and creative methods. 

In Suizhou city, Central China's Hubei Province, the local cultural and tourism director became a hit with his "ugly appearance." 

"I have nothing to say about my face, but I don't agree with saying that there are no pretty people in Suizhou!" In the video, handsome men and women dressed in ancient Chinese costumes walk around local museums and scenic spots.

Chinese cultural critics told the Global Times that this method is a product of the advanced internet era that makes China's rich natural and tourism resources come "alive."

Yu Jinlong, a Beijing-based cultural critic, told the Global Times on Monday that after three years of the pandemic, China's cultural and tourism industry is once again gradually heating up. Such a huge tourism market has presented local cultural and tourism officials with new opportunities for promotion.

According to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a total of 308 million domestic trips were recorded during the seven-day Chinese New Year holidays in January, up 23.1 percent year on year. 

Yu pointed out that compared with popular scenic spots such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and West Lake, more Chinese travelers prefer to visit niche and unique ­places, which ­motivates local officials to vigorously promote their home regions.

The advent of the live streaming era has provided tourism bureau officials new channels through which they can promote the beautiful scenery and ethnic customs of their locations by showing off their personality and talents. Compared with entertainment stars, the leaders who become "travel ambassadors" themselves make for more knowledgeable travel guides and come across as more natural to viewers.

Zheng Changling, secretary-general of the China Folk Culture Innovation and Development Center and a research fellow at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, told the Global Times on Monday that this method will surely bring enormous profits to local tourism and is in line with the current demands of today's consumers.

At present, channels to search for tourism information are being constantly enriched. While traditional advertisements such as text and pictures no longer fit the tastes of today's travelers, this new tourism promotion model has "brought to life" local tourism industries and more officials should learn from it, Zheng said.