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Although Zhongdian accomplished a major tourism—marketing coup bybecoming officially recognized as Shangri—La，Lijiang's story is even moreimpressive.Its rise from a remote mountain town to a world—class touristdestination has been meteoric.The tourism pathway ofdevelopment was laidinitially in 1986，when the central government officially recognized Lijiang Anaent Town as a famous historical and cultural city in China.It was then sanctioned for international tourism by the central government in 1990，a year when it had 160，000 visitors.Three major breakthroughs happenedin the following decade.Yulong Snow Mountain，a few kilometers northof Lijiang，was designated as a national—level tourist attraction in 1992.Anairport opened in 1995，cutting travel time between the provincial capitalof Kunming and Lijiang from a 10—hour bus ride to a 30—minute flight.Finally，after three years of concerted effort by Lijiang officials，the United Nations Educational，Scientific，and Cultural Organization（UNESCO）added Lijiang Ancient Town to the prestigious list of cultural World Heritagesites in 1997.All these events，combined with a rapidly expanding Chinesemiddle class，resulted in more than 4.2 million tourist visits by 2008，anastonishing increase of 2，500 percent in two decades.
