The regional tourism plan explicitly calls for strengthening Nanning"s role as a hub for opening-up and cooperation with ASEAN, while the Pinglu Canal is a key project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor linking Central-South and Southwest China with ASEAN and other international markets, Ge said.

　　The canal is already being viewed in this broader regional context. When it opened, Some major Chinese media such as the Xinhua News Agency described it as providing Southwest China with a shortcut to the coast and overseas markets, particularly those in ASEAN - the country"s largest trading partner.

　　The waterway is expected to reduce comprehensive logistics costs by 18 to 30 percent and save more than 5 billion yuan in transportation costs annually, according to official estimates.

　　For Nanning, the emerging picture is therefore larger than a tourism upgrade. The city is seeking to extend its "green city" identity beyond its urban landscape, using roads and waterways to connect its parks and rivers with mountains, villages, and coast and the wider region.

　　The ambition is not simply to move tourists from one scenic spot to another. It is to turn the journey itself into part of the destination - while allowing local products, communities and industries to become part of a broader tourism and economic network connecting Guangxi with the rest of China and ASEAN.

　　"Guilin"s landscape is the best under heaven" has long been one of the ways people see Guangxi - through its mountains and rivers.

　　But today, there is a new side to the region. Roads are running through mountains, villages and cities, while the Pinglu Canal is opening a new route to the sea. These projects are bringing places closer together, connecting tourism with local communities and industry, and Guangxi with ASEAN and the wider world.