Visitors admire giraffes at the zoo located in Taihu Lake Longemont Paradise, a tourist complex in Huzhou. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou's Changxing county welcomed more than 13.22 million visitors in the first half of this year, generating 15.19 billion yuan ($2.33 billion) in tourism revenue, an increase of 43.09 percent and 38.77 percent year-on-year respectively.

Over the six-month period, the sales of the county's accommodation and catering enterprises above designated size reached 290 million yuan, an increase of 103 percent year-on-year, ranking first in the city. 

Taihu Lake Longemont Paradise encapsulates the robust growth momentum of the county's tourism sector.

Covering about 800 hectares, it is a tourist complex consisting of luxury hotels, senior care apartments, an international circus city, a wild animal world, an amusement park, a shopping center, wetland parks, and bar streets.

The scenic spot received 4.7 million tourist visits from January to June, generating 365 million yuan in tourism revenue. Since its opening, the complex has created about 20,000 employment opportunities to date.

Changxing has been actively promoting itself as a tourism site in the Yangtze River Delta, a region encompassing the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, as well as Shanghai municipality.

Nearly 600 organizations, including travel agencies and outdoor event organizers from the region, were invited to promoted Changxing's cultural and tourism products earlier this year.