Recently, the first plenary session of Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Leading Group is hold in Beijing. It has been stressed that to realize the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality on time, governments must implement Xi Jinping’s philosophy of ecological civilization, establish policies based on the new development stage, carry out new development ideas and construct a new development structure, so ecological civilization construction can be firmly promoted. In the end of April, General Office of the CPC Central Committee and General Office of the State Council established Suggestions on Establishing and Perfecting the Value Realization Mechanism of Ecological Products (hereinafter to be referred as Suggestions). It clearly stipulates that with resources of beautiful scenic beauty and historical and cultural heritage as well as the help of professional design and operation team, ecological tourism development mode with the function of tourism, leisure and health-keeping can be developed with least human disturbance. 

    The country has been spending effort to promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality measures and value realizing mechanism of innovative ecological products. Against such background, ecological tourism has new opportunities. Ecological scenic beauty turns into beautiful scenic area. Desertification control is combined with sight-seeing. Abandoned mine is now covered by cultural and tourism town. Many similar changes has took place. Since plenty of ecological tourism projects are successful, confidence is rising in exploring the new ecological mode.

    In recent years, China has paid attention to not only ecological protection, but also appropriate exploitation of ecological resource, so many ecological restoration projects are combined with tourism to a suitable degree and have good result. Suggestions also encourages that the protection and restoration of ecological environment can be related with the right to develop ecological products. Social subjects carrying out comprehensive control and improvement of waste land, barren mountains, black and odorous water body, stony desertification and other problematic environment can use a certain proportion of land for profit-seeking ecological agriculture and ecological tourism as long as the ecological benefit are guaranteed and laws and stipulations are followed.
    The Hongjiannao Lake links the Loess Plateau and the Inner Mongolian Plateau as well as the Mu Us Desert and Ordos Basin. A few years ago, water in the lake dropped quickly due to a reservoir built at the upper reaches of a major replenishing river. The water dropped so quickly that if measures were not taken, the lake may became the second Lop Nor (a lake dried in late 1970s). “Water Conservancy Bureau of Yulin City and Shenmu City and relating departments of Erdos City in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region carried out ecological restoration for multiple times.”, introduced by the person in charge of Yulin Shenmu Hongjiannao Lake Scenic Area. The lake protection was effective because water level rose. It’s now the largest reproduction habitat of larus relictuses which are in imminent danger and a ecological tourism scenic area loved by many tourism. The tourism of the Hongjiannao Lake leads that of the Shenmu City which has established the most famous brand of desert freshwater lake tourism with the help of projects like seeing rare protect animals and the town near water in a desert.
    Wang Caiyun, a stuff member working at Shenmu City, says that she constantly meets visitors from other provinces. She also says that standing at a high place, you will find that Hongjiannao Lake is like a pearl in Mu Us Desert and on the mirror-like surface are birds and speed boats crossing the lake, so you will notice the beauty from the harmonious co-existence between men and nature.
    Zhong Linsheng, the directer of the Research Office of Tourism, Society, Culture and Geography in Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that there’s new opportunities for ecological tourism in China. He analyse that in term of policy, the more flexible protection policy for natural resource offers opportunities for ecological tourism to break the land-use limitation; in terms of industrial prospect, there’s more adequate conditions for wetland sight-seeing, water conservancy tourism, forest tourism, geology tourism and health tourism and in terms of development mode, with the tendency of eco-compensation and payment for ecosystem services, reasonable ecological resource allocation and transition and appreciation of eco-product value can be realized with a system that is dominated by the government and operated by the market.
    Ecological protection is accompanied by exploitation. China’s ecological civilization construction is deepening, so attention is payed to the vitalization and exploitation of ecological resource. Suggestions specifies methods that market entities should be nurtured for ecological products; that people should be encouraged to vitalize abandoned mine, old industrial site, old villages and other resources; that promote the centralized circulation and management of rights and interests of relating resource and that improve the exploitation value of educational and cultural tourism through the infrastructure construction and improvement of ecological environment. 

    Jingxing Mine in Shijiazhuang City of Hebei Province has stopped operation and has left beautiful natural environment and abundant industrial heritage are precious treasures of local ecological tourism. In recent years, the comprehensive program of cultural tourism of Duanjialou Zhengfeng Mine in Jingxing Mine has been under construction. Priorities are environment improvement, restoration of cultural relics and introduction of new business, like a book bar transformed from an abandoned workers’ dinning hall, a cafe transformed from an abandoned railway carriage and a vehicle cultural theme park transformed from an abandoned wast rock dumping site.

    Hetaoyuan County in Juye County of Heze City in Shandong Province situates in a place where used to be the largest rock mine base in the city. In 2015, the mountain was closed to transform local industries. Tons of thousands of trees were planted on the abandoned mine. Local ancient villages were transformed to build Jinshan Scenic Area, Qinglongshan Tourism Holiday Resort, Baihushan Tianchi Scenic Area, Qianwangzhuang Shitouzhai Customs Cultural Area and other scenic areas. The abandoned mine was turned into lucid waters and lush mountains.
    Wu Dianyan, professor in Division of Geographical Sciences of Beijing Normal University, said that huge technological and cultural value lies in abandoned mines, industrial relics and ancient villages, but social capital is not dare to engage due to unclear property rights and policy. Suggestions provides a good opportunity by encouraging the vitalization of resources. Local governments are encouraged to lead the development of industrial researching tourism and historical cultural recreational tourism; to seize the chance from policies and solve index problems of land occupation and to attract ambitious talented people born in old villages back to their hometown and engage in construction.
    There’s natural connection in ecology and tourism for ecology offers foundation and conditions for tourism and tourism realizes the value of ecology. Suggestions clearly points out that “ecological tourism development mode with the integration of tourism, leisure and health-building should be introduced”.
    Mingshi Tianyuan Scenic Area situates in Daxin County in Chongzuo City of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. People of Zhuang nationality welcome guests with melodious folk songs. Tourists are easily absorbed in the beauty of mountains and rivers. Lu Xianfeng, the assistant of the general manager of Daxin Mingshi Tourism Development Limited Company, says that the scenic area seeks harmony of nature and ecology in all processes like design, construction and operation. For example, bamboo rafts are used in the drifting; scene on both side of the river is basically the same as before; houses are with the style of Zhuang nationality and a large area of rice field is kept, so nothing is prominent in the villages. During the Labor Day holiday, 35.3 thousand tourists visited the scenic area, 30% increase when compared with the same period of 2019.
    Cui Fengjun, the secretary of party branch of Taizhou University in Zhejiang Province. In recent years, despite the rapid development of health-keeping tourism in China, many weakness are exposed. The most prominent ones are relate to the conflicts between resource exploitation and ecological protection, especially the space usage. Suggestions brings opportunities for the whole industries, so it can be expected that new conditions will be added to the health-keeping tourism by the government and new models to realize the value of ecological products will also be added. 
    It’s worth notice that suggestions stipulates that in areas with adequate conditions, it’s allowed to explore old-house loan and other innovative financial products for projects like peripheral ecological environment improvement, renovation of old houses and the development of rural entertainment and tourism. According to Ma Xiaolong, a professor at Nankai University, green finance can effectively solve the long term problems of rural heritage protection, rural tourism development and inadequate financial resource of rural infrastructure construction. It’s suggested that financial product should be more supportive of programs with an orientation of “comprehensive tourism development of rural settlement”. It’s also suggested that there should be creative financial products and an organizational leadership system which is in coordination with rural community development.