杜甫在这里不到两年，写诗400余首……这些“宝藏小城”到底有什么魅力？

Standing atop Chijia Mountain above the Yangtze River in Chongqing's Fengjie county, known as Kuizhou during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Chen Xiangying finally understood why Du Fu, the great poet, produced hundreds of poems despite spending only about a year and nine months there.

She had not come merely as a sightseer, but as a reader, following the geography of classical Chinese poetry.

Chen, a 39-year-old university lecturer in ancient literature from Yan'an, Shaanxi province, said: "When I actually got there, I felt very different. Du Fu's poems suddenly appeared in front of me. He wrote, 'The Chijia and Baiyan peaks rise, both piercing the sky'. And then I understood why Du Fu wrote those poems".

Chen's experience is part of a broader shift in China's domestic tourism market, as growing numbers of urban residents turn away from megacities and popular ancient towns and toward county-level destinations in search of unpolished landscapes, living cultural memories and a slower pace of life.

In August, Chen and a friend traveled to Fengjie and Wushan counties in Chongqing.

What also moved her was the sense of stepping out of time.

In the counties, Chen noticed that the ride-hailing drivers she met seemed genuinely content.

But county rhythms are not urban rhythms. If visitors miss the meal window, there may be no food available. The famous local buns, for example, were sold out by 9 am, she said.

Small counties across China are emerging as a major growth engine for the country's tourism market, as visitors increasingly turn away from crowded big-city attractions in favor of slower-paced and more authentic experiences.

Nonlocal spending in county-level destinations rose 14.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to a report by the China Tourism Association.

The trend has been driven by what Chinese travelers call "treasure towns" and "county trips", with searches for such getaways surging over the summer.

Searches for "county trips" to popular destinations jumped 110 percent this summer holiday year-on-year on travel booking platform Qunar, according to company data.

The report also highlighted the popularity of trips to so-called "hidden gem towns" and "county-hopping" itineraries. During the Spring Festival holiday, the first batch of 11 designated hidden gem towns in Anhui province, including Shexian and Xiuning counties, recorded a 26.5 percent increase in tourist arrivals and a 28.2 percent rise in tourism spending from a year earlier, both above the provincial average.

County-level destinations elsewhere are also attracting visitors through live entertainment and distinctive local experiences. For example, Nandan county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has developed a thriving performance scene, helping bring greater attention to the lesser-known destination. 

Hui'an county in Fujian province, known for its women's culture and distinctive traditional dress, reported an increase in visitor numbers.

Hui'an received about 2.89 million tourist visits in the first six months of 2026, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, according to local media.

In the first seven months of this year, Zhejiang's Anji county welcomed about 21.6 million tourist visits and generated more than 30 billion yuan ($4.47 billion) in tourism revenue, according to the county government.

Its appeal begins with its natural setting. More than 70 percent of the county is covered by forest, with bamboo groves stretching across the landscape and tea plantations scattered across the hillsides, the county said.

These examples show how varied the appeal of county travel can be. That appeal can also be found in the smaller, everyday details of county life.

For Fu Bingqin from Beijing, the prices he encountered in Linzhou, a county-level city tucked into the Taihang Mountains of northern Henan province, were not simply startlingly cheap. They were his first sign that he had entered a different kind of China.

One and a half yuan for three steamed stuffed buns. Two yuan for a bowl of hot and sour soup.

Fu, who traveled by motorcycle through places including Linzhou, said county-level destinations offer a compelling mix of distinctive culture, mountain scenery and architectural heritage. 

Linzhou offers an attractive combination: the Red Flag Canal, built largely by hand by about 100,000 people in the 1960s and now a symbol of their determination; the dramatic Taihang landscape of gorges and cliffs; and the city's identity as China's "hometown of architecture".

Fu said it is rare to see unrenovated 1980s architecture these days. But in small county-level places, the past is still present, giving them a nostalgic feel.

Many of these places once boomed. Then their populations shrank, and the towns were not urbanized as quickly as the big cities.

Fu shipped his motorcycle to Zhengzhou, Henan province, in April before setting out with fellow riders on a weeklong journey through the Taihang range.

Linzhou was just one stop along the way. The trip ran from Zhengzhou to Handan, Hebei province, before the group returned to Beijing by rail.

Fu came away from the journey with some practical thoughts on county tourism.

His advice is straightforward: put traffic police at busy spots and build better hotels.

Ma Yiliang, deputy director of the China Tourism Academy, said the rise of county travel reflects a desire for distinctive experiences.

However, beyond brand building, more efforts should be made to improve public services and tourism quality so that tourists are attracted by the authentic appeal of county-level cultural tourism, Ma said.

Meanwhile, the business environment should be further improved to attract more market entities to develop local tourism at the county level, he added.

记者：李弘扬