A growing number of Chinese tourists are helping to save a dying town, after a littleknown tourist attraction was featured on a number of Chinese travel blogs.
The residents of Sea Lake, a town of just 600 people, barely see travelers stop at their gas station while driving by, but the sudden influx of Chinese tourists is helping keep the town's economy alive.
The tourists come to see Lake Tyrrel—a shallow, salt crusted and often dry lake just out of town. According to a local teacher, Rachel Pearce, the extremely beautiful nightscape combined with the mysterious appearance of stars reflected on the salt lake gives people the impression of walking among the stars. Besides, the town is so far away that no light pollution ruins the particularly attractive views, and as it is situated in a barren (寸草不生的), dry part of the country, there are rarely any clouds to spoil the night sky.
The attraction's growing soughtafter status has resulted in the town's motel rooms being full almost every night, and while local farmers are suffering in a twoyear drought, tourism is keeping the town's agriculturalbased economy stable.
Despite the popularity of the town and its attraction, locals are still confused as to why their little town deserves so much attention. Sea Lake's population has fallen from around 1,200 a decade ago to 600 today. "We're still unsure why Lake Tyrrel is such a big, big tourist attraction," one local says. "It's quite a shock."
