The tourism bureau of the city of Jinzhong, Shanxi province has come up with a new policy that lets its residents visit the old town of Pingyao for free just by showing an ID card, from Dec 1 to Jan 31, 2014, to give its tourism a bit of a boost during the off-season.

College students, teachers, and migrant workers with a temporary residence permit also qualify for the free treatment.

Pingyao's old town joined some "Shanxi leisure tourism" activities that began back in May, with a discount of 20 percent on tickets during the busy season and a 40-percent discount in the off-season (Dec 1 - Feb 2014), meaning a cost of 90 yuan per ticket, in December.

Wang Runming, head of the tourism bureau, says they have had similar preferential treatment over the past few years, such as a "Pingyao people get into old town for free" policy, but that this year it benefits more people, including those who live, work and study in Jinzhong.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw