At the recent third China Meteorological Tourism Industry Development Conference, the China Meteorological Service Association and Seashell Finance of The Beijing News jointly released the "China Meteorological Tourism Development Report (2024)." The report launched the "China Meteorological Tourism Comprehensive Index" for the first time, revealing 40 benchmark cities for the meteorological tourism index. It assessed the development and utilization of six major types of meteorological tourism resources, including meteorological landscapes, climate health care, cold-avoiding residence, summer retreat residence, stargazing tourism, and ice and snow tourism. Chongming was rated as a benchmark city for the meteorological tourism index, with its starry sky tourism, a meteorological tourism advantageous resource, rated as excellent. It is the only area in Shanghai to make the list.

Benchmark cities for the meteorological tourism index refer to those cities that are assessed to have excellent conditions for the development and utilization of meteorological tourism resources in the "China Meteorological Tourism Development Report (2024)" released by the China Meteorological Service Association and other institutions. These cities are comprehensively and systematically evaluated through five first-level indicators: meteorological tourism resources, tourists and industrial economy, infrastructure and policy support, ecological environment protection, and the popularity of urban network platform tourism. They fully reflect the comprehensive development level, development potential, and the activity degree of related industries in the region's meteorological tourism.

The report found that the six major meteorological tourism industries in China, including meteorological landscapes, climate health care, summer retreat residence, cold-avoiding residence, ice and snow tourism, and stargazing tourism, have taken initial shape. Cities with meteorological landscape tourism stand out the most in terms of comprehensive resource endowment.

The report believes that among the six major types of meteorological tourism, stargazing tourism is in its infancy but has great potential and is developing rapidly. In China, stargazing tourism started late, but with the progress of science and technology and people's longing for the starry sky, it has gradually become an emerging form of tourism.

In recent years, Chongming has continuously optimized and enriched its ecological environment, earning a batch of national and international honors such as "China's Natural Oxygen Bar," "China's Climate Livable City (County)," and "World Natural Heritage Site." In the first half of 2024, the air quality index (AQI) excellent rate in Chongming was 87.4%, and the annual average concentration of PM2.5 was 31 micrograms per cubic meter, ranking first in the city. The annual average concentration of negative oxygen ions was over 2,700 per cubic centimeter, 1.5 times the standard of "very fresh air" defined by the World Health Organization, making it a true "natural oxygen bar."

Chongming has vast rural areas with high sky transparency and atmospheric tranquility, which provides good advantages for stargazing. Every summer and in early to mid-December, especially when the annual "finale" of the starry sky, the Geminid meteor shower, becomes active, places like Dongtan Wetland Park become one of the best spots for stargazing. More and more tourists and photography enthusiasts come to Chongming to feel the mystery and beauty of the universe under the twinkling starry sky.

The high-quality ecological environment has also given birth to high-quality agricultural products. In order to reasonably develop and utilize climatic resources and explore the value of high-quality climatic ecological resources, Chongming has taken the opportunity to plant a large number of specialty agricultural products. Among them, Chongming Cuiguan pear and Chongming rice have been awarded the title of "Climate Ecological Quality Product" by the Committee of Agricultural Meteorology and Ecological Meteorology of the China Meteorological Society.