This photo taken on December 14, 2023 shows a view of the snow-covered Mars Base 1, a simulated Mars habitat, in Jinchang, northwestern Gansu province, China. [Photo/Xinhua]
The vast, remote Gobi Desert in northwestern China is becoming increasingly accessible to the general public thanks to the rise of space-themed tourism, opening up new frontiers for adventurous travelers. Masu.
The rocky space is adorned with several white capsule-like structures, surrounded by glowing solar panels and distinctive “craters” of various sizes.
This is Mars Base 1, a simulated Mars habitat in Jinchang City, Gansu Province, one of China's key regions for nickel, a hard silvery-white metal widely used in aerospace technology.
This eroded desert terrain, similar to the surface of Mars, once served as a testing ground for Chinese scientists to evaluate a variety of space exploration robots, including lunar rovers, Mars rovers, and manned spacecraft. .
This photo taken on November 24, 2023 shows a view of Mars Base 1, a simulated Mars habitat in Jinchang, northwestern Gansu province, China. [Photo/Xinhua]
Nowadays it is becoming more popular among tourists. Chinese people's interest in and enthusiasm for space-related cultural activities has been on the rise in recent years, driven by a series of space-related achievements. Following the launch of the Mars rover Tianwen 1 in 2020, similar Mars simulation bases have sprung up across the northwest, allowing visitors, especially school-going children, to experience a slice of life on the Red Planet. Ta.
Participants are tasked with pretending to be Taikonauts hiking through desert terrain, searching for water resources, and facing deadly dangers. Mars-related science courses will also be offered to young visitors.
Some see a money-making opportunity in this passion for space and aim to turn these desert properties into tourist resorts. They are building a space-themed hotel and restaurant and offering sleeping capsules that can sleep up to nearly 200 people. Photos of visitors in spacesuits at the base were widely covered in the media.
As a report published by China's leading tourism website Qyer shows, the space-themed tourism market is quite large. It emphasized that people born in the 1990s and 2000s account for more than 60 percent of the total space travel population.
In 2023, more than 80,000 visitors visited Mars Base 1. Li Fei, the company's business operations director, said student groups, space enthusiasts and family vacationers are the main customers.
A Long March 2C carrier rocket carrying a test satellite for satellite internet technology will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on December 30, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
In early December, 500 kilometers away from the Mars base, 26-year-old tour guide Yang Xiaolin and his colleagues took a group of 300 students on an unforgettable visit. Their destination was Dongfeng Space City, also known as Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Jiuquan Center, the country's only manned spacecraft launch site, is listed as one of the world's top space-themed travel destinations by Lonely Planet. Facilities such as the Air and Space Museum, the launch tower, and the mock Taikonaut housing complex are among the top attractions recommended by travel guides.
The space city's tourist season runs from July to October every year. In addition to student groups, some individual travelers book tours through local travel agents a day or two in advance.
Yang said the activity of watching a rocket launch live is no longer just for young people, but has become something that people of all ages can participate in.
Local officials hope the booming space-themed tourism industry will help improve local livelihoods. The government used to focus primarily on promoting traditional tourism activities, such as camel riding and sand dune climbing. However, the local Culture and Tourism Bureau recently announced a comprehensive plan aimed at promoting space-themed tourism through expanded tour routes, expanded souvenir options and improved service provision.
This aerial photo taken on March 4, 2021 shows a view of Star Picking Town, a desert-themed town dedicated to scientific research and tourism, in Mingqing County, northwestern Gansu Province, China . [Photo/Xinhua]
In the hinterland of the Tengger Desert, China's fourth largest desert, tourists gather around telescopes and marvel at the breathtaking beauty of the starry sky. This exceptional stargazing destination in Mingqing County, Gansu Province, has been transformed into a desert-themed town dedicated to promoting scientific research and observation, astronomy and related tourism. It is also called the “star-gathering town.”
Since its establishment in 2020, the town has generated more than 10 million yuan (approximately US$1.39 million) in tourism revenue, demonstrating the immense growth potential of the “space + tourism” industry.
Such projects have garnered recognition from industry experts. According to commercial space industry insider Liu Yufei, the traditional perception of space-themed tourism is limited to rocket models and toys, hindering the ability to cultivate a consistent customer base. This is hampering the mass market potential of aerospace cultural tourism.
“However, the creation of space-themed towns and parks can provide tourists with a completely new awe-inspiring experience that they have never experienced before,” Liu said.
She emphasized that although more than 600 astronauts have been launched into space, the desire for space exploration is shared by the world's population of 8 billion people.
“These facilities can naturally turn into prominent exhibition and sales platforms for space-related products, which will promote the popularization of high-tech products and increase economic benefits,” Liu added.
