Source title: The latest archaeological discoveries reveal the cultural business cards of various districts, and the achievements of the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt are unveiled
On the evening of the 8th, the 2022 Beijing (International) Canal Culture Festival opened on the banks of the Grand Canal. With the theme of “Traveling the Canal, Traveling the Grand Canal”, the cultural festival integrates various resources such as culture, tourism and sports along the Beijing section of the Grand Canal, and launches a series of online lines around the three major sections of “Millennium Canal”, “Colorful Canal” and “Vibrant Canal” The following activities are held to invite citizens to share the results of canal protection and utilization.
Grand Canal Cultural Belt Construction Achievements Unveiled
At the opening ceremony of the Cultural Festival, a series of achievements in the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt were unveiled.
The Grand Canal archaeology has made a new discovery. Chen Mingjie, director of the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, introduced that since 2021, the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau has organized 102 archaeological excavation projects in seven districts along the Grand Canal, with an excavation area of about 100,000 square meters, of which the most important is the ancient city site of Lu County in the Han Dynasty and its surroundings new archaeological discoveries. Archaeology has clarified the shape and preservation of the southern gate of the old city in Luxian County; the wood and bamboo slips and paddy rice found in the Eastern Han wells at the suburban site of the old city in Luxian County are the first in Beijing.
In the past year, a total of 126 cultural relics protection projects of various types have been implemented in the seven districts along the Grand Canal. Among them, the newly discovered architectural remains of the East Road of Wanshou Temple have been protected and the environment has been renovated. On the basis of the early repatriation of cultural relics and the relocation of villages, the Grand Canal Headwaters Ruins Park has carried out systematic environmental improvement, repair and protection, resource digitization and file management. It will be officially opened around October this year. The Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics also organized the Beijing Institute of Archaeology to carry out disease investigation and monitoring data collection in the Tonghui section of the Grand Canal, set up 89 monitoring points in the heritage section of the Grand Canal, and used 3D laser scanning to carry out data collection and inspection; The investigation and archives work of ancient bridges in Beijing has been carried out, and 88 ancient bridges with traffic functions have been comprehensively identified, and the spatial distribution law and preservation status have been clarified.
A group of museums light up the Grand Canal Cultural Belt. As of the end of July, there were 165 registered museums in the seven districts along the Grand Canal, and 10 new registered museums have been added since 2021. The Beijing Grand Canal Museum (East Hall of the Capital Museum) was officially named and the facade was unveiled. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year and open to the public by the end of 2023. The first phase of the Luxian Old City Archaeological Site Park has been successfully completed, and the second phase of the greening project is being carried out; the main structure construction of the Luxian Old City Protection and Exhibition Project is underway, and is expected to be completed in June 2023 and open in 2024.
Cultural business cards displayed in various districts along the canal
In order to allow citizens to enjoy the achievements of the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal, this cultural festival will link up with city-level cultural business cards such as “Watching Beijing with a Grand Opera” and “There are Operas in the Guild Hall”, and hold rich cultural activities in various districts along the Beijing section of the Grand Canal. Dongcheng District will hold the Grand Opera Look East·2022 Nanluoguxiang Drama Festival, with the theme of “There are dramas in the whole city” to launch dramas in the halls, dramas in Hutongs, dramas in scenic spots, dramas in campuses, dramas in business districts and other activities; Changping District The Changping Canal Cultural Theme Activity “White Floating Rhythm at the Source of the Canal” will be carried out, focusing on the modeling of lanterns and small performances, supplemented by night tours, intangible cultural heritage product exhibitions, Internet celebrity check-ins, and folk customs reproduction, etc. It has a long history and cultural connotation at the source of the Beijing section of the Canal.
The cultural festival also launched various online and offline canal culture and consumer-themed activities. The Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism launched 10 boutique tourism routes with different characteristics around the theme of “Beautiful Life” to fully tap the tourism resources along the Grand Canal; Tongzhou District held a series of activities in the Grand Canal colorful tourism season, and cooperated with social forces to customize the Grand Canal historical and cultural boutique tourism Routes, and jointly launched consumer coupons with Beijing Universal Resort to promote the development of cultural tourism on the Grand Canal.
Technology empowers the exhibition of cultural heritage of the Grand Canal
The integration of canal culture and digital technology empowers the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal.
At the opening ceremony, the “Twelve Hours of the Canal” VR (Virtual Reality) interactive experience exhibition invites the audience to immersely experience the natural and cultural landscape light and shadow changes of the North Central Canal and the urban style of the Canal in different time periods; a virtual interactive holographic theatrical performance, Combining the ancient rhyme of the canal with modern technology, with the poetry recitation of virtual characters, it will jointly interpret the ancient and modern canal culture. This cultural festival digs deep into the cultural connotation of the canal, using virtual reality and augmented reality technology as the carrier, through VR interactive experience exhibition, virtual human interactive holographic theatrical performance and other forms to tell the story of China’s Grand Canal.
During the festival, a series of academic exchange and achievement display activities will be held. The International Canal Culture Summit Forum was held in Tongzhou District, inviting domestic and foreign cultural scholars and experts to conduct academic exchanges on canal culture along the North Canal; Urban areas, colleges and universities, well-known experts and scholars discussed the new kinetic energy for the development of canal culture. In addition, each district will also hold a series of historical and cultural exhibitions of “Thousand-year Canal Imagining the World” to showcase the research results, historical context and contribution to Beijing’s development of the Beijing section of the Grand Canal.Our reporter Li Qiyao