Dancers perform at the one-year anniversary of Wanda Town in Danzhai county, Guizhou province, on July 2. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wanda Town in Danzhai county, Southwest China's Guizhou province celebrated its one-year anniversary earlier this month with events ranging from fashion shows and musicals to embroidery competitions.

With a total investment of 700 million yuan ($105 million) from China's real-estate giant Wanda Group, the tourism town was set up last July in cooperation with the local Danzhai government as a means of alleviating poverty.

Wanda Group will donate another 500 million yuan to support the second-phase of construction of the town, said Qi Jie, president of Wanda Commercial Management Group, the commercial property arm of Wanda.

The first phase of construction includes the renovation of Donghu Lake Scenic Area, business street, folk culture experience center and related facilities while the second phase will focus on promoting the local musical drama Splendid Danzhai and building a traditional culture activity center, visitor center and three spa hotels in order to provide a better experience for visitors.

Aiming to establish Danzhai as a renowned tourist resort, Wanda will attract investment for an aquatic amusement program and specialty inns, added Qi.

The group chose Danzhai to carry out its poverty reduction project for many reasons. While Danzhai is one of the most impoverished counties in China, it is also a beautiful place surrounded by verdant mountains and the crystalline Donghu Lake.

Moreover, Danzhai boasts the rich ethnic culture of the Miao and Dong ethnic peoples, including silver jewelry making, handcrafted birdcages called "Kala", batik and traditional Miao dance.

Statistics show that more than 5.5 million tourists have visited Danzhai, increasing its total tourism revenue to 2.43 billion yuan ($366 million) by the end of 2017 一 four times that of 2016. Thousands of local residents increased their income by starting their own businesses in the village and selling agricultural products, handicrafts and food to tourists.