The Quanzhou Maritime Silk Road, Green Ecological Tour route was recently included on the list of 300 national boutique rural tourism routes compiled by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The route is: Qingyuan Mountain-Jiuxian Mountain scenic area-Qudougong ancient kiln site-Qingshuiyan Temple-China Tea Capital in Anxi county-Dayu village in Yongchun county-Incense Culture Creative Park in Yongchun county-Xiangcao World Resort in Nan'an city.

A spectacular view of rolling slopes planted with tea in Anxi county, Quanzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Surrounded by mountains and the sea, Quanzhou, a city in East China's Fujian province has unique and rich resources for the development of its rural tourism.

In recent years, the city has attached great importance to the development of its rural tourism, spurring it on to introduce a range of  measures to help upgrade and improve the quality of the sector.

Rural tourism has gradually become one of the new types of tourism, with the greatest growth potential there.

In order to provide locals and visitors alike with a good tourism experience, the Quanzhou culture, radio, television and tourism bureau initially launched 15 boutique rural tourism routes. These offer not only great choices for holiday trips, but also alternative routes for weekend trips and summer trips.