Do you also need to pay? The Yangtze River Delta Starry Sky Cultural and Tourism Economy is about to emerge, with the Starry Sky Project | Starry Sky | Economy

The summer nights of July and August are the perfect season for stargazing. Many people think back to their childhood when they looked up and saw stars all over the sky. Nowadays, in cities, this kind of scenery is not uncommon. The "stars" for stargazing are not scattered stars, but visible galaxies and meteors with the naked eye. To see such stars, one needs to have conditions: high altitude, wide field of vision, good night sky environment, and less light pollution.

Famous stargazing spots in the Yangtze River Delta include Lishui, Quzhou, Huzhou, and so on. In recent years, the starry economy has been booming, and some places want to transform the starry sky into a "golden mountain and silver mountain" - on the basis of protecting the dark starry sky, developing starry cultural and tourism projects to make people willing to pay for watching the stars.

Is starry economy a gimmick or a new trend in cultural and tourism development?

The starry sky is also a resource

Pan Bang had never thought before that watching stars on the empty land on the mountaintop at home was also a resource.

In 2015, Pan Bangxian, who was engaged in the hotel industry in Hengdian, transferred over a thousand acres of barren mountains in his hometown of Damaoxianbei, Anmin Township, Songyang County, Lishui, hoping to develop an agricultural tourism project. At first, he set up a shared farm where he could farm and cook during his leisure time in the city, experiencing the rural atmosphere. But because Da Mao Xian is too far away from the city and the transportation is not so convenient, the effect did not meet expectations.

One day in 2017, the Hangzhou Astronomical Society came to Pan Bangxian's mountain for a stargazing expedition: This place is so great! Compared to the International Nighttime Association standards, it can meet the silver standard of the National Nighttime Park and is an excellent stargazing spot in the East China region. Experts from the Hangzhou Astronomical Society repeatedly told Pan Bangxian that the starry sky here is particularly valuable, and you must take it seriously.

At first, Pan Bangxian was a bit confused. There were very few people in China who did the Starry Sky Cultural Tourism project, and backpackers who enjoyed watching stars seemed to be the least willing to spend money on tourism. Can anyone really be willing to pay for these stars?

After conducting in-depth research, Panbang first discovered that people who are willing to observe stars have expensive equipment, and can even rent a site in Yunnan to set up remote monitoring telescopes, just to take the best starry sky pictures. The monthly venue fee is several thousand yuan, making it a high-end customer group. In addition, the concept of camping is becoming increasingly popular, and the combination of starry sky and camping can attract many public groups to play. The starry sky may really be a good tourist resource.

Do as you please. The construction of the Da Mao Xian Bei Xing Chen Shan cultural and tourism project has been launched, and soon, the Starry Sky Museum and a large Starry Sky Camping Area designed by well-known designers have been completed one after another.

Starry Mountains and Milky Way photographed with professional equipment

In the entire East China region, the Anji Jiangnan Tianchi Scenic Area was the earliest to initiate the construction of starry sky related projects.

Since the relocation of the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008, Jiangnan Tianchi has been the target of the site selection due to its superior stargazing conditions. The astronomical science popularization base was built at the beginning of the following year, consisting of the solar calendar square, the astronomical science popularization exhibition hall, the observation room of the 40 centimeter aperture astronomical telescope, and later an additional 80 centimeter aperture astronomical telescope was added, and an academician workstation was also established. Many people come to Jiangnan Tianchi every year to see the stars.

In recent years, with the popularity of camping, every Qixi Festival, Jiangnan Tianchi will hold star watching activities to attract a large number of tourists. During the sunny summer season, the venue can even support over a thousand tents. "Our ticket prices are not expensive. Tourists who watch the stars come in after 5pm every day and leave before 8am. They can rent tents or bring their own tents. The camping area also has complete facilities such as water, electricity, and bathing, as well as a dedicated guide for watching the stars," said Wang Anpei, Chairman of Jiangnan Tianchi.

The tent set up by Jiangnan Tianchi for stargazing

More and more places are realizing the value of the starry sky.

Recently, Gaotiankeng Village, Changhong Township, Kaihua County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, was established as a dark night starry sky protection area by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, with a Porter dark night classification of level 2. The starry sky has become a treasure of Changhong Township and a lever for cultural and tourism development. Gaotiankeng Village has built an 800 square meter Dark Night Park Planetarium. Next to the planetarium is a night park camping site that can accommodate over 100 tents.

As an ancient village, Gaotiankeng Village has also developed a homestay project with the selling point of starry sky, including starry sky bookstores, starry street lamps, and starry sky homestays, which are still under construction. The renovation of old houses in homestays has provided local villagers with a rental income, and in the future, tourists can drive local consumption and increase income for villagers.

Xingchen Mountain has set up "props" for tourists to take photos

Is Starry Economy a New Wind?

Why are people increasingly fond of stargazing and willing to pay to watch it? Wang Ampere stated that on the one hand, it is the need to get close to nature and cultivate emotions, and on the other hand, the role of science popularization and leadership is also significant. He admitted that in recent years, there have been a lot of summer camp teams receiving stargazing at Tianchi Lake in Jiangnan. Many high schools in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have established observation bases here.

The driving force of camping cannot be underestimated, making the stargazing community popular from astronomy enthusiasts and photographers to the general public.

"Not only for astronomical observation and popular science, but also for ordinary people, watching stars is a very attractive and beautiful landscape," Pan Wangqiang, the operation manager of Xingchen Mountain and the son of Pan Bangxian, told reporters. "My friend saw over 100 shooting stars here one night, and the shock made him fall in love with stargazing," said Pan Wangqiang. Youth, ecology, and outdoor are the biggest attractions of the starry economy.

Last June, after the Star Mountain Starry Sky Camping Project of Panbang Xian was opened to the public, it has attracted nearly 10000 tourists to visit and check in. Pan Wangqiang revealed that in the future, they will also build hotel resorts that are compatible with stargazing. Currently, the construction land has been approved, and the project is expected to be completed in two to three years.

But it is not as easy as imagined to do a good job in the Starry Sky Cultural Tourism project.

On the one hand, stargazing is not something that can be done just by looking for a hill, as it places high demands on the natural environment of the location, especially the level of light pollution. At the same time, there should be enough open space on the mountaintop to accommodate enough foot traffic. And suitable places often have a low level of development before, and transportation is not as convenient. Therefore, infrastructure construction such as road construction, water and electricity, and logistics support are all significant investments.

To go to the Night Park Camping Base in Gaotiankeng Village, Kaihua County, you need to drive a short winding mountain road. When the reporter visited, he couldn't help but feel that it was not an old driver who dared to operate it. Local staff also admitted that small shuttle bus routes will be opened in the future, and parking lots on the mountainside and mountaintop are also being considered for expansion.

In addition, although the current Starry Sky cultural tourism projects have Starry Sky as their core selling point, they are basically closely related to camping. Industry insiders have pointed out that in order to make money, one still needs to rely on accommodation and supporting facilities.

"At first, our camping here was quite 'wild', but later on, in order to make tourists more comfortable, we also improved the relevant facilities, including tents, cafes, restaurants, increased access control to ensure safety, and set up many popular check-in points, where you can pay to take portraits of the starry sky, and so on." Pan Wangqiang introduced. "To be honest, the number of tourists visiting Starry Sky Camping this year is not as popular as last year. Perhaps they have chosen more," Pan Wangqiang said. In order to increase the richness of the project, in mid July, the campsite plans to hold activities such as Starry Sky Poetry and Music Festival, as well as increase coordination with astronomy class research activities in primary and secondary schools and wedding photography.

As the popularity of camping gradually cools down, it is difficult to say whether it will also have a certain impact on Starry Sky Cultural Tourism in the future. And if you leave camping, how much economic value can the Starry Sky IP itself generate, and to what extent can the connotation of Starry Sky Culture and Tourism be explored and enriched, are still topics that practitioners need to consider.

"Camping and stargazing can be said to drive each other and complement each other. Our starry sky camping project in Jiangnan Tianchi can only be said to be in the cultivation period." Wang Ampere admitted that currently, only 10% of all tourists in the scenic area come to watch the stars. In the long run, if you want to achieve economic benefits through starry sky camping, you still need to expand your audience. In August of this year, Jiangnan Tianchi was also planning to create some stargazing activities to boost popularity.

"We hope that the sub category of Starry Sky Culture and Tourism can expand. Just like sports, some niche sports are not played by many people nationwide, so they have no influence. Only with a larger audience can the plate expand," said Pan Wangqiang.