“Back garden” of Shanghai a national model of ecology and forest, as Ruan Liancui finds out.

Lin’an, in Zhejiang province is working to establish itself as a top tourist destination for ecology and health.

“It has very diverse scenery and every visitor can enjoy a unique experience,” said a student from the United States studying in Beijing after he visited the area.

The student said after graduating he wants to find a job in Zhejiang so that he can spend weekends in Lin’an exploring its history and culture.

As well as enjoying the attractive scenery, his trip to Lin’an led him to find out about the rare bloodstone, an expensive material used for traditional Chinese seal cutting.

He said his classmates in Beijing used to take him to antique shops that sold blood-stones.

“I only knew that blood-stones were precious and had a long history but I didn’t know that they came from Lin’an. I will recommend Lin’an to my classmates and try to bring them here to experience its scenery, culture and history,” he added.

In 2014, a crew from South Korean TV station KBS came to Lin’an and produced a program about the fresh air around Tianmu Mountain.

A TV journalist works with MBC, another TV station from South Korea, visited the Tianmu and Daming mountains in Lin’an earlier this year.

“Lin’an will definitely become an influential place for tourism and health. I am going to recommend the two mountains in Lin’an to people in my country,” he said.

Liam Bates, an environmentalist from Switzerland and the overseas tourist ambassador for Hangzhou, tries his hand at tea making during his visit to Lin’an last May.[Photo/Provided to China Daily]

In May 2014, Liam Bates, an environmentalist from Switzerland who beat 26,000 candidates from around the world to become the overseas tourist ambassador for Hangzhou, visited Lin’an and was enchanted by its fresh air and wild mountain teas.

When he visited Tianmu Mountain, Bates met a group of people practicing yoga in the forest so he joined in and said he enjoyed the feeling of being “at one with nature”.

After his trip, Bates wrote about his experiences and shared them in five different languages on his Facebook account.

Several celebrities, including director Xie Jin, novelist Jin Yong and Hong Kong’s entertainment mogul and renowned philanthropist Run Run Shaw, visited Lin’an and were impressed by it.

Former NBA star Yao Ming and his wife Ye Li were so impressed by the area’s gorgeous scenery they decided to have their wedding photos taken there in 2007.

In 2014, entrepreneur Ma Yun visited Lin’an twice to investigate its investment environment.

Tesla Motors, an electric vehicle designer and manufacturer, chose Lin’an, as the destination for its first self-drive tour event in China because of the area’s ecological environment.

“Lin’an is the perfect place for self-drive holidays. Staying in the Daming Mountain area was like being in a natural oxygen bar,” said an entrepreneur who participated in the event. “It’s also a good place to invest in environment and health related industries.”

The entrepreneur said that the city’s rich tourist resources, which include forests, hot springs, ancient towns, mountains for skiing and rivers for rafting, created numerous business opportunities.

Lin’an is in northwestern Zhejiang and is regarded as the back garden of several big cities including Shanghai and Hangzhou.

It has been recognized by State departments as a national model city of ecology, a city of forests, an excellent city of tourism and is also renowned for bamboo, pecans and traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy.

The city has received several other national-level honors and is highly regarded by tourists from home and abroad.

River rafting is one of the best ways to explore Longjing Canyon in Lin’an.[Photo/Provided to China Daily]