The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner and a lot of people are making plans for some outdoor travel during the holiday. But, for some, industrial travel destinations are becoming a hot choice. For instance, there is the Tiexi district in Shenyang. It was once the largest base for heavy industry and equipment manufacturing in China. However, it's now a feature travel destination.
Tiexi district has begun to adjust and restructure in a large way since 2002. Some well-known symbols representing traditional industries were disappearing. To keep its splendid history, the local government rebuilt some of the old factories into museums.
Li Xichang was once a worker in Shenyang Foundry, the largest foundry in Asia. Now a retiree, he's back to visit as a tourist.
Li Xichang, Former Worker of Shenyang Foundry Factory said "I had been working here for over 40 years and I have a memories of it. I came with my colleague. He said he wanted to touch the old machines again to keep his good memory of the past."
The industrial tour in Tiexi district is like a trip back through time. Tourists can see 13 typical family living quarters from different generations. There are many places like Tiexi where industrial sites have become tour destinations. The former Nuclear Weapons Research and Manufacturing Center in Qinghai, which produced the first bomb in China 45 years ago, is now a beautiful garden grassland destination, attracting 1.8 million tourists last year.