On February 16, Sichuan Tourism Resources Planning and Development & Quality Evaluation Committee announced that 22 scenic areas including the Phoenix Lake Scenic Area, Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu were officially rated as national 4A tourist attractions. At present, there are 325 national 4A scenic areas in Sichuan. According to an official at Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, those new 4A tourist attractions feature heavy investment, complete types, strong driving force, and high degree of intelligence.
    Being rated as a national 4A tourist attraction is the authoritative recognition of its resource quality, facilities, services, etc. With the overall improvement in the province's scenic areas, the requirements for 4A tourist attractions are getting higher and higher. Therefore, the localities made great efforts in the application this year. The provincial authority reviewed 25 applicants, with a total investment of 8,175 million yuan. Compared with previous years, the spending has increased significantly. The successful applicants covered all the four resource types of A-level tourist attractions defined by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, including nine in natural ecology, eight in history and culture, four in modern recreation and one in industry integration. "This shows that Sichuan has a strong potential development capacity of tourism resources," said an official from Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
    During the past Spring Festival holiday, the Wanggangping Scenic Area in Shimian County, Ya'an City has become a new favorite. Nearly 50,000 visitors went there to enjoy flying on the snow in the warm winter sun. During the development of the scenic area, the tourist center, the ecological parking lot, the ecotourism trails, the hotels, the rest pavilions, the trash cans, and the scenic spot explanation boards have been designed to be integrated with natural landscape, great attention has been paid to eco-friendly materials and building technologies, and large sums have been inputted. The scenic area has invested a total of nearly 400 million yuan, and more forms of business will be introduced.
    The new 4A tourist attractions highlight new forms of tourism and vacation resources. Many places make use of their unique resource advantages to build and develop vacation and leisure products, gradually forming a system of vacation products such as sunshine healthcare, lakeside vacation and rural leisure. Lianbao Yeze, which means the jade peak of dignity in Chinese, is located in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, 60 kilometers away from the seat of Aba County, and with the highest altitude of 5,141 meters. The scenic area not only develops the tourist experiences of exploring glacier relics, walking through picturesque stone castles and getting close to sacred mountains and lakes, but also introduces new cultural and technological experiences such as listening to the legend of Gesar and drone sightseeing.
    The establishment of some scenic areas has also effectively promoted the local people's income and cultural services. Located in Weiyuan County, Neijiang City, the Gufoding Scenic Area adopts the community cooperation model in the development process. Community residents can participate in major decision-making, and get ownership dividend, management dividend and labor income. Thus, villagers' economic income has been increased substantially. The tourist service center, the shops, the square, public rest facilities, police service and medical facilities are also open to local residents free of charge after they are completed and put into operation, which greatly improves the people's sense of gain and happiness.
    The new 4A tourist attractions boast beauty and intelligence. The large majority of the applicants offer tickets online, and can monitor and view reservation and actual visitor data in real time. Some scenic areas have also developed smart tourism management systems and tourism websites, covering security monitoring, flow control, economic statistics, weather forecast, commodity purchase, smart access control and other functions. Since its establishment, Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area in Cuiping District of Yibin City has promoted intelligent management and services, which have integrated the functions of surveillance camera, density detection, trespass alarm, SOS, vehicle scheduling, traffic control, geological disasters and forest fire monitoring, realizing unified command and coordination, and informationized, scientific and standardized management of the scenic ara.

List of New 4A Tourist Attractions in Sichuan
1. Phoenix Lake Scenic Area, Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu City
2. Baihetan National Wetland Park, Xinjin District, Chengdu City
3. Zhaohua Ancient Town Scenic Area, Fushun County, Zigong City
4. Lisu Terrace Scenic Area, Miyi County, Panzhihua City
5. Daxiao Hometown Scenic Area, Xiaoquan Town, Jingyang District, Deyang City
6. Plum Forest Scenic Area, Pingwu County, Mianyang City
7. Gufoding Scenic Area, Weiyuan County, Neijiang City
8. Moruo Drama Creative Cultural Park, Shawan District, Leshan City
9. Heming Mountain Scenic Area, Gaoping District, Nanchong City
10. Cuiping Mountain Scenic Area, Cuiping District, Yibin City
11. Excalibur Park, Tongchuan District, Dazhou City
12. Wanggangping Scenic Area, Shimian County, Ya'an City
13. Pengzu Mountain Scenic Area, Pengshan District, Meishan City
14. Old Emei Mountain Scenic Area, Danling County, Meishan City
15. Lianbao Yeze · Stone Mountain Scenic Area, Aba County, Aba Prefecture
16. Love Sea Scenic Area, Jiuzhaigou County, Aba Prefecture
17. Khampa Men Village Scenic Area, Yajiang County, Ganzi Prefecture
18. Chachenggou Tianyu Hot Spring Scenic Area, Xiangcheng County, Ganzi Prefecture
19. Qingwu Huahai Scenic Area, Waka Town, Derong County, Ganzi Prefecture
20. Khampa Cultural Capital Scenic Area, Dege County, Ganzi Prefecture
21. Lalongcuo Ancient Ice-floating Wetland Scenic Area, Baiyu County, Ganzi Prefecture
22. Gongmu Mountain Scenic Area, Yanyuan County, Liangshan Prefecture