Tai'an, Shandong province recently won four gold awards in the 16th provincial-level tourism products design competition held in the province's capital Jinan, ranking first out of its 17 cities.

The annual competition, which has a total of 16 gold awards, was first hosted in 2003 and is sponsored by the Shandong Provincial Tourism Development Committee. It aims to promote the continuous innovation of the package designs of tourism products and thus promote the development of the tourism industry and economy.

In recent years, Tai'an has been increasingly giving a nod to its rich history by basing the packaging designs of its tourism products on its profound historical culture.

As a result, the brand influence of Tai'an tourism products has been on an upward trajectory and their market competitiveness has also gradually increased.

The tourism product brand Tai'an Sibao, meaning the four treasures of Tai'an, including Mount Tai jade, Mount Tai tea, Mount Tai hemp, and Feicheng (a county-level city of Tai'an) mahogany, have in recent years been awarded numerous accolades, including being included on the list of the "Top 10 Tourism Products in China", and "China's Best Must-buy Tourism Product".

In 2017, the total amount of money spent by tourists on shopping in Tai'an accounted on average for more than 20 percent of what they spent on their whole trip.

The tourism product Mahogany Aroma Burner from Tai'an wins the gold award of "Top 10 Brands of Cultural Tourism Destination" in the 16th provincial-level tourism products design competition held in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat account: SDTXTA]

The leisure food brand Huo Da Men from Tai'an wins the gold award for its innovative packaging designs in the 16th provincial-level tourism products design competition held in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat account: SDTXTA]