Linfen city in Shanxi province started the construction of a tourism highway on Oct 13, marking the city's first step to drive economy by developing tourism.

The tourism highway starts from Nanzhuang town in Yonghe county in the north to Hancheng-Xiangning Yellow River Bridge in Xiangning county in the south, involving 56 towns, 752 villages, and 850,000 residents.

According to the plan, the tourism highway along the eastern bank of the Yellow River will extend 260 kilometers and connect tourist attractions in Linfen city through 11 branches of 196.2 kilometers in total. It will take 15 months to complete the tourism highway project costing 7.68 billion yuan ($1.17 billion).

The tourism highway will play a vital role in improving tourism traffic network in Linfen, advancing development of local tourism resources; bettering investment environment and helping local undeveloped areas alleviate poverty.

It's estimated that 20,000 people will be employed and 5,000 people will engage in the tourism industry once the road is completed at the end of 2018. By the end of 2020, the tourism highway will benefit 100,000 residents and support 200 villages get out of poverty by developing tourism.

A ceremony marking the start of construction on Linfen city's tourism road takes place on Oct 13. [Photo/news.cn]

Yue Puyu, Party secretary of Linfen city, announces the construction of Yonghe county-section of Linfen city's tourism highway along the Yellow River at the ceremony on Oct 13. [Photo/news.cn]