The city of Yantai in Shandong province plans to promote mini-tourism this year, with products including half-day tours, one-day tours and two-day tours. These short tours will take advantage of the newly-opened Qingdao-Rongcheng high-speed railway and under-construction Yantai Penglai International Airport.

The Qingdao-Rongcheng high-speed railway, which connects the coastal cities of Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai, is Shandong's first inter-city line as well as part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. The line has shortened the travel time from Yantai to Beijing to five hours, which will make Yantai more attractive to tourists.

Yantai will also promote tourism around the country, including the Yangtze River Delta region, northwestern and northeastern areas and cities along the Beijing-Shanghai railway, in a bid to lift the city's tourism profile.

In addition, Yantai will also cooperate with travel agencies in South Korea, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan to set up a tourism union, launch a Russia-Harbin-Yantai tourism route and offer 72-hour visa-free stays for South Korean tourists.

Apart from developing ecological tourism and rural tourism, Yantai will invest 272.46 billion yuan ($44.4 billion) on tourism projects. A one-stop tourism service website and a tourism mobile client will also be part of Yantai's efforts to boost tourism growth. Free WiFi service will be offered in all the 3A and above scenic spots and 3-star and above hotels.

In 2015, Yantai aims to receive over 58 million visitors and generate tourism revenues of 6.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8 and 12 percent respectively.

Edited by Andrew Ancheta