A NE China town innovates sports, culture and tourism integration

What city draws tourists from all over the world only to attend a football game and enjoy a cup of coffee? Barcelona? Milan? Not just them, but also the city of Yanji in Northeast China's Jilin province.

Despite the fact that Yanji's football team, Yanbian Longding, only plays in China League One (Chinese second-tier league), the strong local football atmosphere has attracted many visitors, and watching a football game has become a must for those visiting Yanji in recent years.

Located in the northeast, Yanji was one of the earliest regions in China to promote football. With a population of only 680,000, the small city has a large scale of football players and fans.

"The average number of spectators at this year's home games was over 16,000 per game," Piao Jun, a Yanji Sports Bureau staff, told Xinhua. The figure is comparable to teams in the Chinese Super League, and a sizable share of the audience is made up of visitors.

Yanbian played against Dalian Pro at home in the third round of the CFA Cup on June 22. Despite the elimination, Yu Zhenhai, who watched the game in the rain, felt very happy.

"When I come to Yanji, I'm not only going to watch the game, but I'm also going to have a cup of coffee," Yu said.

Football has brought people to Yanji and allowed them to learn about the local coffee culture. Many visitors, such as Yu, like to take selfies with coffee mugs with "Yanji" written on them.

Li Jun, the owner of Chayina Cafe, has witnessed the tourism boom in Yanji, and the hottest type of coffee in his shop can sell up to 1,200 cups every day.

As an enthusiastic football fan, Li believes that Yanji has found an economic booster. "Football matches become a way to help Yanji's economic growth. I think football, coffee and dinosaurs have gradually filled the gap in Yanji's tourism."

The "dinosaurs" mentioned by Li are a new tourism resource that has been created in Yanji in recent years as part of a "trio" to attract tourists, alongside football and coffee.

In May 2016, an early Cretaceous dinosaur fossil was discovered in Yanji, and under protected excavations, the fossils of China's easternmost Cretaceous dinosaur fauna were later discovered. Yanji's "dinosaur tour" has joined the "football tour" and "coffee tour" as a new feature.

According to the data, the number of travel orders in Yanji this summer increased 11 times over the same period last year. Sports and culture complement each other, attracting tourists and revitalizing the small city.

"For me, dinosaurs are my profession, coffee is my inspiration, and football is a part of life," Guo Jing, an interpreter at the Yanji Dinosaur Museum, told Xinhua.

"Football, coffee, and dinosaurs are not only the focus of an increasing number of visitors to Yanji, but also a new window for the outside world to get to know Yanji, and I hope that more visitors will like my hometown," Guo added.