The "Fairy-Tale Castle" in Yunhe county. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For Xia Xiaoyi, a photographer in her 30s, her home county of Yunhe's title as the "Wooden Toy City" is a badge of honor. Watching the county transform into a production powerhouse, where wooden toys are also a vital part of its charm and character, fills her with immense pride.

"I am a native of Yunhe. Since my elementary school days, Yunhe has been known as the Wooden Toy City, a title it has held for over 20 years," Xia recalled. "Wooden toys have always been a point of pride for me about Yunhe, something that sets it apart from other cities. From the moment you exit the Yunhe highway toll station, you are greeted by buildings adorned with toy-themed designs, and the town center is filled with structures inspired by wooden toys."

From local hospitals to elementary schools and even the transportation bureau, many public buildings are designed to look like castles. Streetlights are decorated with cartoon woodpeckers, and building-block decorations dotting the roads resemble toy castles.

At the heart of Yunhe stands a new building known locally as "Fairy-Tale Castle", which reflects the town's unique character. On Xiaohongshu, the Chinese social media platform, many tourists share photos of their visits to this fairy-tale structure. Xia wrote on her account, "This chocolate-colored castle is the perfect embodiment of a dreamy fairy tale."

The concept of a fairy-tale town is something Yunhe has been actively developing, leveraging its wooden toy industry to build a unique tourism brand.

"Our city slogan is 'One in a Million, Fairy Tale Yunhe.' Out of over 2,000 counties in China, we are the only one themed around fairy tales, which is our unique selling point," said Yan Tao, head of the county's publicity department.

Yunhe has constructed a fairy-tale theater, has hosted fairy-tale poetry competitions, and is developing fairy tale-themed districts, said Yan. "In our fairy-tale district, there are castle-like buildings, and we have hung poems written by children in local fairy-tale poetry competitions on trees."

According to the Yunhe Culture and Tourism Bureau, in 2024, the county received 2.914 million tourists, with approximately 40 percent drawn by the wooden toy-themed attractions.

"The development of Yunhe's tourism industry has paralleled the growth of the wooden toy industry," said Lan Xiawei, deputy director of the county's culture and tourism bureau.

"In recent years, Yunhe has been exploring the integration of wooden toys and tourism, creating tourism attraction spots like the Fairy-Tale Castle and Rose Castle, establishing wooden toy industrial tourism demonstration bases, and building wooden toy educational tour bases. Since 2023, we have launched an elderly wooden toy study tour route, hosting 183 study tour groups with over 9,600 tourists," Lan added.

Lin Bifu came to Yunhe to work in the wooden toy industry and transitioned to running homestays in 2016. Lin now operates several homestays.

"When building our tent hotel, we envisioned it as a small castle or mushroom growing out of the forest. This concept gives our buildings a fairy tale-like feel without being too out of place, as if they naturally belong there," Lin said.

The use of wooden toy decorations is one of the six features of homestays established by the Yunhe Homestay Association, where Lin serves as executive vice-president.

However, Lin believes more can be done to enhance the visitor experience. "We hope to develop more experiential products that allow visitors to interact with and relate to the local wooden toy industry. For example, we could offer customized wooden toy-making experiences where visitors choose different woods based on their scents and create their own wooden toys," Lin suggested.

Shen Mo, a travel blogger from Zhejiang province, who has visited Yunhe multiple times, said Yunhe has gradually integrated wooden toy elements into scenic spots.

"However, beyond the usual photo spots, travelers now seek to immerse themselves in local life and experiences. Expanding on the wooden toy theme with more hands-on activities and unique products would be a great next step," said Shen.