Dongying in East China's Shandong province is working to stimulate cultural and tourism consumption with special offers and discounted tickets at the city's major travel destinations, including the Yellow River Estuary Ecological Tourism Zone and the Snow Lotus Grand Theatre.

Yellow River estuary offers spectacular views

The Yellow River empties its bright yellow waters into the deep blue Bohai Sea near Dongying. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Yellow River Estuary Ecological Tourism Zone, covering an area of 153,000 hectares, is a popular tourist destination for viewing landscapes and watching birds.

The wetland's landscapes change throughout the four seasons, with tamarisks turning red and willows greening in spring, rivers rippling in summer, reed catkins flying in autumn, and plants being dressed in silver coats in winter.

The zone is known as the "bird's paradise" and the "international airport for birds", as it is home to 368 species of birds and serves as a transit station for migrating birds throughout Northeast Asia. During winter, over 6 million birds reside and breed in the zone.

The administrative committee has built wooden trestles, a bird information park, a wetland park, and buildings for observing birds from a distance in order increase the zone's tourism appeal.

Media workers visit the Bird Information Park in the Yellow River Estuary Ecological Tourism Zone in Dongying on Oct 28. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Classic stories recreated at White Lotus Grand Theatre

Actors perform a reimagined version of a legendary Chinese fairy tale telling the story of Niu Lang and Zhi Nv at the Dongying White Lotus Grand Theatre on Oct 28. The show is part of the Shandong Cultural Consumption Season and tickets are only 20 yuan ($2.83) per person. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Dongying White Lotus Grand Theatre opened in 2014 and covers an area of 45,000 square meters. Its main hall can seat 1,340 people.

The theater is capable of staging performances by top-notch international troupes and also boasts 12 self-produced dramas, many of which were adapted from classic Chinese or Western stories, including Mulan, A Journey to the West, Aladdin, and The Nutcracker.

The self-produced dramas have been performed in 27 cities throughout the Beijing, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Zhejiang regions, spreading Dongying culture around the country.

In celebration of Shandong Cultural Consumption Season, the theatre is offering discounted tickets and has received over 200,000 visitors over the past three years – an impressive number considering the population of Dongying is just over 2 million.

An aerial view of the Dongying White Lotus Grand Theatre. The theatre has become a Dongying landmark and a bridgehead for domestic and international exchanges. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Dongying is playing a leading role in the third Shandong Cultural Consumption Season, an annual event meant to integrate culture and tourism, optimize consumption, and most importantly, entertain the masses.

Since the event kicked off in July, the municipal government has signed cooperation deals with 46 culture and tourism enterprises, hosted 6,599 activities, and attracted the participation of around 386,000 people.

To date, a total of 35,800 people have enjoyed 1.31 million yuan in discounts and subsidies, bringing the total value of cultural and tourism consumption to 5.73 million yuan.