Students visit an educational tourism attraction in Jining, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/jnnews.tv]

Jining in East China's Shandong province has been actively developing its educational tourism sector by utilizing its rich traditional Chinese cultural resources.

During the first half of 2021, the city's major educational tourism destinations received 736,500 visitors and generated 26.75 million yuan ($4.14 million) in revenue, equivalent to 85.35 percent and 82.55 percent of that in the first half of 2019.

A number of popular tourism destinations, routes, and products have been developed. Eight new attractions in Jining were recently included on the third list of educational bases, which was released by the Shandong Department of Education, the Shandong Department of Culture and Tourism, as well as the Shandong Development and Reform Commission.

Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, was part of the first group of 10 educational tourism cities in China. The Confucius Temple, the Confucius Cemetery, and the Confucius Family Mansion in Qufu, as well as the Temple of Mencius and Mencius Family Mansion in Jining's Zoucheng, were designated by the Ministry of Education as national educational bases for Chinese primary and middle school students to research and study.

Local educational tourism companies in Jining have developed more than 50 courses about classical Chinese culture, traditional etiquette and customs, intangible cultural heritage items, as well as the six disciplines that ancient Chinese students were required to master, including archery, music, calligraphy, and mathematics.

The China Educational Tourism Promotion Alliance, which was established in Qufu in Sept 2017, established its secretariat in Jining. Members of the alliance include 10 provinces and cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian, and Guangdong.