On the Chengdu-Leshan Expressway lies a distinctive service area—the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area. While typical service areas only offer basic amenities like parking and refueling, this site has reinvented itself around the theme of tea. It not only sells tea and a wide variety of tea products, but also houses a tea museum and a tea-food processing facility.

As the country's first 4A-rated tourist attraction based in a highway service area, it welcomed approximately 20,000 international visits last year, generating over 300,000 yuan in consumer spending. The service area was recently designated as a departure tax refund point, becoming the first highway service area in Sichuan to offer this service.

What makes a highway service area compelling enough for international visitors to open their wallets? A reporter recently conducted a field investigation to find out.

Tea-Based Strategy: Full-Chain Services Attract Millions of Visitors

Strolling through the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area feels like stepping into an immersive tea culture experience—accessible, perceptible, and tangible. The pervasive presence of tea is evident everywhere, extending even to the food offerings like green tea noodles and tea pastries. Moreover, the service area boasts its own tea plantation and tea product processing facility, achieving a complete vertical integration from production and processing to sales.

As the "Northern Gateway" to Leshan tourism, the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area serves as the first stop for visitors entering the region and has been operational since its inauguration in 2002. However, it initially functioned as merely a routine refueling stop, with only a few vehicles stopping there daily during its first year of operation.

The turning point came in 2004, when the service area began its gradual transformation and upgrading centered around a tea theme. Today, visitors here can not only park, refuel, charge vehicles, and rest, but also purchase tea and tea sets, explore the tea museum, and participate in interactive activities such as tea ceremony classes and tea snack making. The service area even includes guesthouse accommodations, now offering a comprehensive range of services covering "dining, lodging, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment".

With growing popularity and word-of-mouth acclaim, it has become the country's first 4A-rated tourist attraction to build its reputation from a highway service area. "Annual passenger flow exceeded one million visits, and sales reached approximately 20 million yuan," said Li Wei, manager of the Management Department at Jiajiang Tianfu Sightseeing Tea Garden Co., Ltd., the service area's operator.

The service area is rolling out new initiatives to attract more visitors. Just before the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday this year, the service area underwent a "wall-removal" transformation, directly connecting the Tianfu Tea Country toll station to local roads and officially becoming an open service area. "This initiative allows visitors to quickly reach the integrated tea-tourism demonstration zone in Xinchang and Wuchang towns of Jiajiang County, promoting the coordinated development of small scenic spots into a large scenic area," said Du Linxia, a staff member at the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area.

Rave Reviews: International Tourists Flock to Purchase Local Cultural Creations

Compared to previous years, a notable recent change at the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area has been the significant increase in international visitors.

"We didn't initially focus specifically on international tourists, but we gradually noticed that some inbound tour groups chose to rest here and showed strong interest in tea, a product with distinct Chinese characteristics, and they stayed noticeably longer," explained Li Wei. After identifying this interest, the service area began catering to their preferences by introducing small-packaged green tea and tea-themed cultural creative products. This approach has successfully attracted a growing number of international visitors, shifting their behavior from "stopping to look" to "picking up a pack".

A policy introduced late last year extended the visa-free transit period for foreigners to 240 hours, driving a growing number of international tourists to visit China. Since the start of the year, Sichuan has recorded one of the highest totals of international visitor arrivals in the country, ranking first in western China. The service area has also benefited from this policy dividend. Since its implementation, the number of international visitors and the resulting consumer spending have increased by approximately ten percent year-on-year.

On site, the reporter spoke with Singaporean tourist Rennie (name transliterated), who had purchased a box of green tea at the service area and expressed great satisfaction. "This is an exceptional service area. The tea culture experiences are worth returning for, and I feel fortunate to have visited it," Rennie remarked.

Riding the new wave of "China Travel", the Jiajiang Tianfu Service Area is also targeting international spending power to seek new growth. In August this year, it was officially designated as a departure tax refund point for tourists, becoming the first highway service area in Sichuan Province to offer this service.

Shi Zhen, manager of the Tea Estate Department at Jiajiang Tianfu Sightseeing Tea Garden Co., Ltd., noted that the service area now receives international visitors daily, with tourists from Southeast Asia being the largest group. "Recently, the largest single transaction exceeded 3,000 yuan, qualifying for a tax refund of over 300 yuan at the 11 percent rate," Shi added.

Moving forward, the service area also plans to upgrade its tax refund service to an "instant refund upon purchase" model and enhance staff training to further improve service quality.