Shanxi province now claims five tourist places among China’s Top 100 “smart scenic spots”, Shanxi Daily quotes China Internet Weekly, China’s top IT magazine, as saying on Nov 8, giving the five as -- Mount Wutai in Xinzhou, Qiao Grand Courtyard in Jinzhong, Yungang Grottoes in Datong, HuangCheng Chancellor House in Jincheng and Mianshan Mountain in Jiexiu -- with the first of these scoring 92.35 and putting it in the 9th spot out of 100.

The ranking is done through mass voting, experts’ opinions, and special customer voting on brand reputation, internet site building and industry status. In commenting on the results, the provincial tourist administration expressed no surprise because, as Li Gui, its vice-director, notes, these spots have done a very good job in combining tourist development and Internet applications in public services, infrastructure, and network, to bring conveniences to visitors.

Li went on to say that they intend to keep up the pace in smart tourism development for complete Internet applications across Shanxi’s tourism business.

The voting on the list began this past March, with 185 scenic spots across the nation taking part, most of them at the 5A level.