Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone in Kaihua county, Quzou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

The Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone in Kaihua county, Quzou, East China's Zhejiang province has been nominated as one of the "dazzling pearls" in Zhejiang, a term referring to areas with a good natural environment, rich culture and distinct charm.

Kaihua is considered the hometown of root carving art in China as the craft - a provincial intangible cultural heritage item - has been practiced here for more than 1,400 years.

The Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone, a national 5A level scenic spot, has been integrating root carving with traditional Chinese culture and tourism in recent years.

The scenic spot has attracted 355 enterprises and 451 individual businesses from the service industry that have created nearly 10,000 jobs in the surrounding areas and attracted 2.84 billion yuan ($429.71 million) in investments.

In 2021, the added value of tourism in Kaihua county was 1.59 billion yuan, up 9.05 percent year-on-year.