4 Chinese and Kyrgyzstani cities compete to become Li Bai's hometown

A competition that neither can afford to lose

Things are far from over.

In March 2010, Lei Da, a scholar from Gansu Province, wrote an article, in which he said that Li’s hometown is Tianshui, which is in Qin'an County, Gansu Province. After the article was published, a netizen petition and other activities were held in the area, which attracted a lot of people. However, these are only limited to the public. At present, Tianshui city has a tourist brand called "Fu Xi – Worldwide Chinese Seek the Hometown of Ancestors," as well as the Maji Mountain scenic area, and the Tianshui municipal government is going all out to get its scenic area on the list of "Silk Road World's Heritage Projects." So the key focus of local tourism is not Li, and the municipal government has been ambiguous on this issue.

The competition to be Li's hometown, which involves two countries and four separate cities, has many people confused. What is worth our special attention is that the fight between two Chinese cities, Jiangyou and Anlu, has also seen government involvement, and it seems that the two cities will not settle with each other even if they will have to settle it though legal means. The primary reason behind the fierce competition is that the cities have made big plans and projects and invested a lot in development based on their being Li's hometown, and as a result, neither can afford to lose the competition. Which city will be recognized as Li's hometown has become an issue with many different angles. 　

First let us analyze Jiangyou. Jiangyou is positioned as a tourist city, "Li's Hometown," and the "City of Chinese Poems." The important measures the city have adopted include increasing government investment, accelerating construction related to Li's cultural imprint on society, building a "Li Tour" for tourists featuring Li's former home, Li's memorial, small and big Kuang mountains, Daitian Mountain, Doutuan Mountain, Qianyuan Mountain and Foye Cave. The city also built Taibai monuments covering an area of 360 mu at Li's former dwelling. 　

In 2003, Jiangyou registered "Li's Hometown" as a trademark at the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and since then the city has seen itself as Li's only hometown in China. Assuming that it is Li's only hometown, Jiangyou began construction on eight projects relating to the Li's hometown theme that cost a total of more than 700 million yuan, demonstrating the city's high expectations for local tourism through Li's hometown. However, at this crucial moment, Anlu intervened. No wonder Jiangyou is so angry. 　　

Anlu city dared to challenge Jiangyou largely because of its strategic plan for local economic development. During the "11th Five-year Plan," Anlu city proposed the plan to build Anlu into the base to showcase and promote Li's culture, and there is also a big project supporting the plan – the Baizhao Mountain Scenic Area project.

Baizhao Mountain is the place where Li lived in seclusion for ten years. The project was launched in 2002, and covers a total area of 804 hectares. The project includes a reception villa, a park to showcase Tang Dynasty poetry, poetry monuments, a peach park, ancient style street, Baizhao Temple, Li Bai's house, etc, all of which cost a total of 80 million yuan. According to the plan, the Baizhao Mountain project will bring 20 million yuan in revenue a year upon its completion, which means that the investment can be recovered in four years. The project is also the biggest tourism project in Xiaogan city, Hubei Province. It is estimated that 200,000 tourists will visit Baizhao Mountain in 2010 and will generate up to 50 million yuan in tourism revenue. 　　

Furthermore, Anlu has also invested a large sum of money in advertisements on CCTV in order to increase its brand image. In 2010, Anlu also launched a project to extend Li Bai's Memorial into a cultural service center as well as a Li Bai data center featuring tourism, movie and TV series production, as well as recreation and entertainment. 　

Jiangyou and Anlu, which saw Li Bai as their "trump card," made big projects and invested a lot in their concepts of "Li's hometown," and utilized the strength of their entire cities to greatly develop cultural tourism related to Li, are like two planets: they are originally far away from each other, but are destined to collide because their orbits intersect. So the fierce competition between Jiangyou and Anlu to be recognized as Li's hometown is the evitable result of the two cities' regional development. We are waiting to see what result will come if the cities involved are deprived of the title of "Li's hometown." 　　

"Though people in modern times cannot enjoy the moon as it was in ancient times, the moon of modern times once shone on ancient people." Four parties are competing with one another to be Li's hometown, and it is hoped that the competition will benefit the public in both China and Kyrgyzstan. The great poet Li will ultimately feel comfortable with the result.