Southwest China's Guizhou Province made the list of the top 10 regions in the world to visit in 2020 announced by Lonely Planet, a travel guide book publisher. 

"Guizhou is sometimes ignored by tourists, but it actually has many hidden interesting experiences," said Li Muze, Lonely Planet's brand and marketing manager.

According to Li, the tempting street food, artifact boutique, and coffee and craft bars are among the highlights of Guizhou. "Visitors can also go to the depths of minority ethnic villages, where pile-dwellings remain the way they were centuries ago."

Today, high-speed rail allows visitors to experience the modernity and primitive folk customs in Guizhou from Chongqing Municipality or Kunming City within a couple of hours.

In recent years, with the rapid development of Guizhou's tourism industry, its mountainous landscapes and rich ethnic culture have made the province a popular destination for tourists from all over the world.

The province received more than 28.56 million tourists during the 7-day-long National Day holiday, a year-on-year increase of 23.91 percent, local authority reports. The tourism revenue during the holiday reached 43.41 billion yuan (6.13 billion U.S. dollars), up 30.69 percent year-on-year.

Every year, Lonely Planet publishes a list jointly prepared by its employees including writers, bloggers and publishing partners from around the world.

"The list can help travelers from far and wide to better understand the destination," said Li.

Aside from Guizhou, the Central Asian Silk Road, Le Marche in Italy, Tohoku in Japan, Maine in the United States, Lord Howe Island in Australia, Cadiz Province in Spain, Northeast Argentina, Kvarner Gulf in Croatia and Brazilian Amazon are also on the list.

(Cover image via VCG)