In December 2019, the 10th Panzhihua Joy and Sunshine Festival kicked off under 
the joint sponsorship of the Panzhihua Municipal People's Government of Sichuan 
Province, China, and the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. 
The Joy and Sunshine Festival is Panzhihua's annual tourism festivity, and has 
been hosted to great fanfare for nine straight years since inception in 2010. 
The campaign will continue until February 2020.

At the onset of winter, the majority of China ushers in the coldest season of 
the year. But looking back, since November, a total of eight national-level 
large-scale activities already took place in Panzhihua: From the 2019 
Democratic League of China Legal Governance Forum and the Honest Government 
Research Annual Academic Symposium 2019 to the Tour of Panzhihua 2019 cycling 
race and the final contest of the National Hiking Trail Premier League...what 
makes Panzhihua so charmingly attractive? The answer is actually quite clear. 
Other than the rapidly expanding local vanadium and titanium industry, the warm 
and comfortable winter climate and the top-notch environment conducive to 
recuperation and health preservation are key reasons that have turned Panzhihua 
into a magnet for all sorts of large-scale events and conferences.

Mecca for Recuperation and Health Preservation, Environment Greatly Suited for 
Residence

The city of Panzhihua is located in southwestern China and is the only city in 
China named after a flower. The plant, pan zhi hua or mu mian hua in Chinese, 
is known by various names such as cotton tree, red-silk cotton or red-cotton, 
which blossoms in January and February each year, enveloping the city in a 
gorgeous sea of red.

Panzhihua is located at 26 degrees north along with other world-famous vacation 
heavens like Hawaii and Miami of the U.S. and Okinawa of Japan. The city 
averages 2,700 hours of sunshine and a temperature of 20.3 degrees centigrade 
over the year. The unique climatic and geographical conditions bestow Panzhihua 
with sunshine almost 365 days a year, and natural conditions here in an 
immaculate fusion. In recent years, Panzhihua has been named various titles 
such as "Top Ten Cities for Air Environment in China", "Best City for Senior 
Habitat in China" and "Top Tourism City for Winter Escape in China", and 
Panzhihua has maintained a rate of more than 90% for excellent air quality for 
five consecutive years. Relying on its unique natural conditions, Panzhihua in 
recent years has dedicated emphatic efforts to cultivate its recuperation and 
health preservation industry, and to position itself as an international 
sunshine, recuperation and health preservation tourist destination.

As early as back in 2017, Panzhihua became among the first pioneers to publish 
local standards for recuperation and health preservation industry base, and 
founded the first recuperation and health preservation academy in the country. 
At present, Panzhihua has edged its way into a number of top echelons such as 
the first group of National Medical Care and Health Preservation Trial Site 
Cities of China, National Smart Recuperation, Health Preservation and Senior 
Care Model Base, Top 50 Cities for Recuperation and Health Preservation in 
China and Top 50 Cities for Livability Competitiveness in China.

Following the growth of the recuperation and health preservation industry, 
tourists influx into Panzhihua also ballooned quickly, reaching 22 million 
person/times in 2018, while the whole city's tourism income rose by 20% 
compared to 2017. In addition, many middle-aged individuals and seniors from 
places like Beijing, Chengdu and Xi'an have opted to purchase real estate in 
Panzhihua, as they prefer to spend the winter in the city just like migratory 
birds that seek warm havens.

Copious sunshine and suitable night-day temperature difference have endowed 
fruits from Panzhihua with an extra degree of plumpness and sweetness. As 
Sichuan's one and only tropical fruit production base, the city is famed for 
the high quality of fruits like mango, loquat, pomegranate, wax apple, 
strawberry and cherry. In particular, Panzhihua's mangos are highly sought 
after across the globe because they come from one of the northernmost and 
highest places of origin for mangos, which result in late maturation and superb 
quality.

Combination of Medical Care and Health Preservation, Creation of New High 
Ground for Recuperation and Health Preservation Industry

As a National Integrated Medical Care and Health Preservation Industry Model 
Zone, while fostering the recuperation and health preservation as its pillar 
industry, active steps have been taken to explore and develop supplementary 
area like medical care, education, commerce and sports. The Panzhihua Municipal 
Government has invested tremendously in this regard, and has succeeded in the 
introduction of a myriad of projects and real estate companies to construct the 
supplementary facilities.

In terms of medical care, although the urban population of Panzhihua numbers 
only 780,000, but across the city are six grade-three hospitals and eight 
grade-two hospitals, with medical care and sanitation resources per capita 
ranked in the forefront of Sichuan Province. In order to generate synergy with 
the growth of the recuperation and health preservation industry, Panzhihua has 
set up daytime care centers for seniors in hospitals, established medical 
clinics in senior care organizations, and guided hospitals and senior care 
institutions to jointly create integrated medical care-health preservation 
service platforms, among a series of other measures, so as to promote the 
development of the "recuperation and health preservation + medical care 
industry".

At the 1st Panzhihua Culture and Creativity Development Convention held just 
recently, it was stipulated that the concepts of "bodily preservation, 
spiritual preservation, mental preservation, winter escape, summer escape, smog 
escape" will be the central guidance for efforts in speeding up the 
construction of five international recuperation and health preservation tourism 
and vacation zones like the Hong Ge Hot Spring Tourism and Vacation Zone, Pu Da 
Sunshine International Recuperation and Health Preservation Industry Vacation 
Zone, ten special recuperation and health preservation villages, a hundred 
recuperation and health preservation tour-stay locations, as well as 50 
integrated medical care + health preservation spots. Panzhihua's plan-makers 
are aiming for 50 billion yuan in total tourism income and 50 million 
person/times in received visitors by 2025.

In addition, Panzhihua is also adopting an active approach to strengthen 
medical care + health preservation supports in aspects such as human resource, 
information and scientific research, so as to create optimal medical care + 
health preservation environment and conditions for visitors and citizens, and 
to drive the highly efficient and sustainable development of the sunshine 
recuperation and health preservation industry.

In the future, Panzhihua will accelerate city construction, emphatically 
promote the development of its transportation, education, medical care, 
information and culture, and establish itself as the gateway for Sichuan's 
southward opening-up efforts. Measures will be taken to build a modern and 
comprehensive transportation and commute system, engender and advance the 
advancement of a healthy Panzhihua, and forge a medical care service brand 
recognized for its distinguished quality. The city will also promote the 
organic integration between the big data industry, recuperation and health 
preservation industry and other industries, so as to bolster the orderly and 
healthy growth of the recuperation and health preservation industry, and to 
create a benchmark of the Chinese recuperation and health preservation industry.

Source: The Panzhihua Municipal People's Government of Sichuan Province