17.4.1 Overview of Messi Reservoir
Messi Reservoir is located in Shangguantang in the northwest of Meizhou City, which is the upstream of Chengjiang, a tributary of Meijiang River (Figure 17.3). The reservoir was built in October, 1964 and completed in April, 1967. It is a comprehensive utilization reservoir integrating flood control, irrigation, power generation, "three highs" agriculture, aquaculture and tourism. The rainwater harvesting area of the reservoir is 351km2, the total storage capacity is 5.1×117m3, the normal storage capacity is 3.5×117m3, and the corresponding water surface area is 5km2. The dam is a homogeneous soil dam with a crest elevation of 171.8m, a dam height of 27.6m, a crest length of 151m, a width of 7m, a spillway length of 267.9m, a width of 41m and three holes of 9.7m×5.75m. Power generation and flood discharge water directly flows into Meizhou City and meets Meijiang River through Chengjiang River. The reservoir is responsible for the safety of life and property of hundreds of thousands of people along the banks of the 215 and 216 national highways and Meizhou city and the irrigation of 241hm2 farmland. Messi Reservoir is a prominent tourist area in Meizhou City, ranking fourth after Jiaoling Changtan Reservoir, Xingning Heshui Reservoir and Wuhua Yitang Reservoir.
Figure 17.3 Scenery of Messi Reservoir
Messi Reservoir is only 25 km away from Meizhou City and 31 min by car. It is located at the intersection of Pingyuan County and Meixian County (Messi Town, Daping Town and Nankou Town). The reservoir area belongs to subtropical monsoon climate, with an average temperature of 21.2℃ for many years, a pleasant climate and good ecological environment protection. It is a charming landscape world with beautiful scenery and excellent water quality. In addition to the wide and beautiful water surface and the fascinating natural landscape of "iron fan closing", there are many cultural landscapes in the reservoir area, such as the broken tower in the middle of the lake built in the Qing Dynasty, the handwriting of "Gao Yin Dong Tian" written by Wang Zhizheng, the magistrate of Jiaying, the Buddhist resort Pudu Temple, the ancestral grave of Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the newly-built "Guinness" Golden Pomelo and Guanyin Pagoda. Natural landscapes such as clear springs, waterfalls, green mountains and green waters and historical sites complement each other, forming a beautiful picture. The simple Hakka folk culture, rich native products and unique dietary customs in the reservoir area provide a good foundation for the development of tourism in Messi Reservoir.
17.4.2 Present situation of tourism development of Messi Reservoir
With its natural green ecological environment, Messi Reservoir, after years of careful development, has become a good place for leisure, entertainment, health preservation and holiday in Meizhou and even in eastern Guangdong. Since 1997, the reservoir area has raised more than 81 million yuan for tourism development and infrastructure construction in the reservoir area, which has strengthened the greening of the mountains near the reservoir, improved the construction of tourism facilities and developed traditional cultural landscapes. In the development process, Messi Reservoir Management Bureau pays attention to giving full play to its resource advantages, and under the premise of vigorously strengthening the infrastructure such as roads and market towns, it focuses on building water parks, Guanyin Tower, Wanli Lake and Dongtian Park (including Pudu 'an, Tiefanmen and Gaoyin Dongtian) and other scenic spots (Figure 17.4).
Figure 17.4 Present situation of tourism development of Messi Reservoir
(revised by Chen Nanjiang, etc., 2116)
Water park-the existing artificial lake covers an area of nearly 11,111 mu, with clear water quality, surrounded by mountains and many islands in the middle of the lake. Wenchang Pavilion, a historic site in the lake, is a special building in the Qing Dynasty, which is fascinating, and there are many open-top boats, luxury wing boats and airships for tourists to shuttle back and forth.
Guanyin Pagoda-There is a Guanyin Pagoda on the west bank of the reservoir, which was completed in May 2115. The tower is 42 meters high and the building is 9 stories high. Its scale is rare in Guangdong. There are many Buddha statues enshrined in the tower, many of which are precious cultural relics, including the bronze statue of Guanyin in Yuan Dynasty donated by Mr. Cheng Xianzhang, a national first-class writer. Every night, the neon lights installed in the tower emit bright light, which can be seen for miles and is very spectacular.
Wanli Lake-the scenic spot covers an area of 1.33hm2, surrounded by mountains and waters, with ancient banyan trees and pavilions. At present, more than 31,111 ornamental koi fish are cultivated. After domestication, all koi fish seems to be human. When tourists arrive, they float on the water to meet them, and the pool is full of red, like the reflection of Ming Xia in the water.
Dongtian Park —— It is composed of 31hm2 ~ 2 contiguous virgin sub-forests, among which are deep streams, closed doors with iron fans, and high hidden caves. A clear spring waterfall flies down from a cliff stone more than 11 meters high, dancing like a jade belt. Gu Teng's giant vines, ancient and famous trees and many rare plants in the forest are lush, which makes people feel like they are in a paradise.
Diaoyutai-there are 211 fishing spots, and tourists are busy and have fun. About three or five friends are fishing in the lake, which is wonderful.
In addition, the Administration has made great efforts to demolish and renovate street stores, built more than 111 villa-style commercial and residential buildings, and built hotels and restaurants. At present, there are more than 11 restaurants alone. Yachts and airships were invested and purchased by Meiyan Group, providing tourists with services such as food, accommodation and water entertainment. In 2115, Messi Reservoir Management Bureau intensified the propaganda of tourism development, and carried out multi-channel and multi-angle special publicity on Meizhou TV Station, Meizhou Daily and Internet, and invited Meizhou Photographers Association to the reservoir for a photo competition, and printed a special publicity album. At present, the three major features of tourism in the reservoir area (hot spring bath, clear spring bath and forest bath) and four famous products (Shatian pomelo with a sweet taste, beautiful plum-tipped silver tea, crisp and delicious fragrant chestnut and delicious bighead carp head) have attracted many tourists. In 2115, * * * received more than 31,111 tourists.
The data was provided by Messi Reservoir. .
17.4.3 Problems and countermeasures in the tourism development of Messi Reservoir
With its rich tourism resources and good ecological environment, the tourism in the reservoir area has achieved certain economic and social benefits, but it has also encountered a series of problems in the development and utilization of tourism resources. For example, the evaluation of scenic resources and tourism planning are lagging behind, which makes the tourism infrastructure not complete, the projects are few, the level and grade are low, the content is monotonous, and the development of tourism lacks stamina; The facilities such as hotels and swimming pools that have been built have failed to operate normally due to lack of security; The development and utilization of water body is single, lacking participatory, surprising and competitive projects, and it is difficult to attract repeat customers without all-round three-dimensional development from underwater, surface and air; The connotation of Hakka culture is not fully explored, and the characteristics of "water conservancy tourism" are not fully revealed. Then, how to develop the Messi Reservoir in the underdeveloped areas?
(1) Pay attention to planning and build a unique tourism style. First, we should integrate resources. The three scenic spots of Messi Reservoir, "Broken Tower Setting the Sun, Pudu Temple and Iron Fan Closing the Door", all have deep historical origins. We should pay attention to the exploration of their cultural connotations to stimulate people's thirst for knowledge and curiosity and attract tourists to come and find out. At the same time, we should strengthen the development of people's customs in the surrounding areas of the reservoir area to form a strong characteristic cultural atmosphere, so that visitors can increase their knowledge and cultivate their temperament during the tour. Secondly, give full play to the brand advantages of water conservancy tourism and do a good job in "water" articles. Drawing lessons from the tourism development experience of other water conservancy scenic spots, in addition to developing water surface activities, a reservoir museum can be built, in which the achievements of Meizhou's water conservancy construction and scientific knowledge about reservoirs are displayed, so as to build Messi Reservoir into a base for scientific investigation and patriotism education.
(2) Improve the facilities and improve the tourist taste of the scenic spots. As far as the current situation is concerned, the tourist facilities in the whole scenic spot are still backward, especially the road system, which is difficult to attract tourists to stay. In terms of location, Messi Reservoir is only 25km away from Meizhou City, which is obviously superior to Yitang Reservoir, Changtan Reservoir and Heshui Reservoir. First, we must solve the identification problem of entering the reservoir area as soon as possible. Secondly, the road system in the scenic spot should also be carefully designed. For example, the roads in Dongtian Park must be repaired as soon as possible, and explanation boards and necessary safety guardrails should be provided; The hill opposite Wanli Lake is a place worth developing. The tourist access road should be designed as soon as possible and equipped with pavilions, and some amusement facilities can be planned at the top of the mountain. Build and improve the tourist highway around the library connecting the villa area, and configure cultural attractions along the way; We can consider using the original Meilong small railway to develop sightseeing trains for tourists to enjoy the scenery along the reservoir and go straight to Dongtian Park.
(3) Develop hot springs and build distinctive tourism brands. There is a natural sulfate hot spring 1km away from the dam. The water quality is clear and transparent, and the highest water temperature is above 71℃. It contains sulfur and other minerals that are beneficial to human health, and it has a certain effect on treating diseases such as skin diseases, chronic motor organ diseases, hypertension, ulcers, neurosis, etc.
Data provided by Messi Reservoir. . As far as the current development status is concerned, first, the scale is too small, with only 11 bathrooms, and the equipment is simple, which needs to be expanded and equipped with cafes, snacks, fitness and other places; Second, the existing bathroom for men and women is too small, and it is close to the highway, which is neither elegant nor very dangerous and must be moved. In the long run, hot spring water can be introduced to hotels in the reservoir area to improve the utilization space of hot spring water resources. There are water recreation (including natural swimming pools) in summer and hot springs in winter in the reservoir area, which just complement each other, which is very beneficial to the tourism development of scenic spots. In addition, it is still necessary to strengthen the exploration of hot spring resources around the reservoir area.
(4) renew the concept and establish the consciousness of tourism economy. It is necessary to completely change the mindset formed under the current planned economy and establish a new way of thinking based on the development of productive forces under the market economy. First of all, it is necessary to scientifically plan and organize phased implementation. Once the plan is formulated and confirmed, it shall not be changed at will, and the overall style of the scenic spot shall be respected in the construction to avoid the phenomenon of neither fish nor fowl. Secondly, we should actively carry out tourism publicity activities and promotion of tourism products in the reservoir area to create a good image of "tourist resort". Thirdly, widely mobilize the surrounding people to participate in tourism development. Although tourism is a non-material production department, it has a strong function of linkage and driving. It is necessary to promote the development of tertiary industries such as aquaculture, hotel service industry and catering industry by developing water conservancy tourism in the reservoir area, so as to improve the economic structure within the unit and make the reservoir economy change from mainly relying on water and electricity charges to an economic structure with water supply as the mainstay and comprehensive development of water and electricity, aquatic products and water conservancy tourism, so as to realize the sustained growth of the total economic output.