Create a strong brand of cultural and tourism integration, and make the canal culture shine
——The 4th Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo was successfully held
Standing majestically in the ancient city of Suzhou, the Tiger Hill Pagoda is the landmark building of the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal, witnessing the millennium changes of the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal. On the evening of September 22, on the banks of the ancient canal, under the Tiger Hill Pagoda, the majestic and melodious national orchestra “The Grand Canal” kicked off the 4th Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo.
The 4th Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo, co-sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Suzhou Municipal People’s Government, was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu from September 22 to 25. Based on the whole area of the Grand Canal, this year’s Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo highlights the theme of “integration, innovation and sharing”, and focuses on promoting the construction of a pioneering area of socialist cultural power and an important tourist destination in the world, and strives to promote the recovery, innovation and high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry. , On the basis of adhering to the target positioning, event themes and effective practices of the previous three sports expos, actively adapt to the new situation of normalization of epidemic prevention and control, innovate the mode of holding conferences, interact online and offline, link on-site and off-site, focus on Empowering technology, focusing on improving quality and efficiency, and strengthening international elements, 13 activities in five major sectors, including opening ceremony and theme performances, night tours of the ancient canal, exhibitions, theme forums, and interactive linkages, were designed and held. Among them, the six themed exhibitions attracted more than 4,000 people from more than 900 units from 72 domestic cities and more than 20 foreign countries. According to incomplete statistics, a total of nearly 100,000 people visited the venues of the six themed exhibitions and related activities of the Games, and the online audience exceeded 370 million, achieving the goal of a safe, exciting and successful event.
This year’s Games Expo is an important measure to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal culture, and to promote the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt and the National Cultural Park with high quality. As the “circle of friends” of the Canal City expands, the vision of establishing a cultural and tourism integrated development platform, a cultural and tourism boutique promotion platform, and a better life sharing platform for cities along the Canal is gradually being realized. International atmosphere. Highlights of the entire exhibition activities are outstanding, distinctive and exciting.
Empowered by technology, showing the infinite new world of digitalization of cultural tourism
This year’s Games will highlight the technology-enabled elements, using artificial intelligence, mixed reality, virtual imaging, interactive sensing and other digital technologies to create new scenes of cultural tourism, and showcase new formats, new products and new models of cultural tourism development. In the Canal City Cultural and Tourism Boutique Exhibition, the “Holographic 5G Grand Canal” immersive experience pavilion is specially set up, which adopts pure 3D modeling, 5G signal + VR 720° panoramic view, and truly reproduces the customs along the Grand Canal.
In the special tourism product exhibition, breaking the barriers between imagination and reality, the “MR interactive system” opens the virtual and real symbiosis universe, and the 40,000-lumen NEC high-brightness projection equipment performs 3D rendering on the spot to help the innovation of immersive cultural tourism night tour products. The establishment of experience projects such as “24-hour urban study room” and “Baidu unmanned car”, technology empowers the digital content ecology of cultural tourism and the field of intelligent connected vehicles, all of which reflect the infinite new world jointly developed by “cultural tourism + technology“.
At the Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, VR, AR and other technological means are used to create a “dazzling intangible cultural heritage” experience scene, and “Intangible Cultural Heritage Home Metaverse Experience”, “Digital Intangible Cultural Heritage Mixed Reality Experience” and “Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Corridor” are set up. Integrate traditional culture with digital technology, transform the one-way communication of intangible cultural heritage into two-way human-computer interaction, break through the limitations of time and space, and vividly and interestingly display the characteristic intangible cultural heritage projects along the canal. With the help of digital technology, this year’s intangible cultural heritage exhibition is even more interesting. The audience can watch the Kunqu Opera performance of holographic projection on the spot, and can also experience the production of virtual ceramics.
At the Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition, using the holographic display technology, the digital virtual human “Feng Ling” became the recommendation officer of the Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition of the Sports Expo, and a virtual reality stage was also created, allowing the audience to watch the virtual and real interpretation of “Six Records of Floating Life”. “”The Peony Pavilion.” Using digital technology to display “Jinling Map”, the audience can wear the bracelet, and then they can walk into the ancient painting from a first-person perspective. . In the “AR Grand Canal” project, the three-dimensional model of the Grand Canal is placed on the ground of the exhibition hall, and ancient poems related to Jiangsu float in the air, and the audience can boat on the canal with the help of terminal equipment.
In the Canal Food Culture Exhibition, the seasonal ingredients of the twenty-four solar terms and the famous dishes along the Grand Canal are displayed with vegetable models. The evolution process of my country’s food utensils is introduced with pictures and texts, and various products used for cooking, cleaning, catering, and ice cream, chocolate, and coffee are displayed on site. kind of robot.
With the help of digital technology, the content of this year’s offline exhibitions has also been simultaneously moved to online presentations. Entering the mini program of the online Games Expo, you can watch the 3D visual presentation of the “Grand Canal Metaverse” theme concept page, and the audience can also control the button to immerse the exhibition in 360°, and understand the style and cultural tourism characteristics of the cities along the canal.
Today, “cloud tourism”, “cloud performance” and “cloud collection” are opening a new direction for the development of the cultural tourism industry. At the Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Development Forum, one of the key events of this year’s Games Expo, industry experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, and representatives of cities along the canal jointly focused on new trends in the development of digital cultural tourism and new forms of business driven by digital technology. Conduct lively discussions.
Improve quality and efficiency, show new achievements and new formats
This year’s Games Expo will launch six themed exhibitions: Canal City Cultural and Tourism Boutique Exhibition, “The Encounter of the Silk Road and the Canal” International Exhibition, Canal Featured Tourism Products Exhibition, Canal Intangible Heritage Exhibition, Canal Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition, and Canal Food Culture Exhibition , a variety of cultural and tourism exhibits gathered together, showing the cultural connotation and extraordinary charm of the Grand Canal in an all-round and multi-angle manner.
In the exhibition hall, the participating cities presented excellent gifts one after another, fully demonstrating the traditional culture and urban charm along the canal. From the culture of the Central Plains of Henan to the Qilu culture of Shandong, from the culture of Chu and Wu of Jiangsu to the culture of East Zhejiang and Yue, the 36 cities participating in the exhibition along the canal vividly reflect the canal friendship between cities. The six themed exhibitions have been reintroduced and refurbished, so that the exhibition level is higher, the content is updated, and the latest achievements in the integration and innovation of culture and tourism are displayed together.
The Canal Featured Tourism Products Exhibition focuses on displaying new tourism formats and products in cities along the Canal, setting up featured scenic spots, hotels, and homestay exhibition areas based on immersive experience and high-tech interactive products, and featured tourism based on RV camping and outdoor supplies. The equipment exhibition area includes Canal-specific cultural tourism routes and commodity exhibition areas supported by well-known domestic tourism companies, leading OTA e-commerce platforms, and top 100 travel agents, as well as tourism product experience sales areas focusing on parent-child travel and research and study tours. The sense of experience, participation, technology, and immersion are enhanced.
The Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition carefully organized a total of 54 intangible cultural heritage projects above the municipal level, 74 intangible cultural heritage enterprises, and nearly 1,000 intangible cultural heritage works from eight provinces and cities along the Grand Canal. Connect with modern life and satisfy the people’s yearning for a better life. The exhibition is divided into five themed sections. The design integrates the characteristics of Jiangsu garden architecture and the elements of “water charm” to create a spatial atmosphere of “Intangible Cultural Heritage Grand View Garden”.
The new forms of cultural tourism exhibited at the exhibition are refreshing. In the Canal Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition Area, as one of the representative projects of Jiangsu’s industrial tourism development in recent years, the Nangang Industrial Tourism Zone has set up project exhibitions in this Games Expo, with the theme of “Great American Nangang, Digital Intelligence Industry” , remote immersive tourism and real-time display of 3D digital factories, allowing tourists to remotely experience how steel is made. The exhibition hall is divided into 6 sections: wisdom, iron and steel technology, leisure, comprehensive, sports, and red. It not only popularizes the knowledge of iron and steel smelting process, enhances tourists’ awareness of iron and steel industry and industrial tourism, but also fully displays the rich tourism resources of Nangang. On the opening day of the 23rd, the Nangang exhibition hall attracted thousands of tourists.
At this year’s Games, the “Water Rhyme Jiangsu” digital travel card was officially launched, and tourists from all over the country can purchase it through a variety of online channels to achieve “one card in hand to travel in Jiangsu”. This new type of travel card product has the remarkable features of “convenience and benefits, multi-code integration, online customization, and rights overlay”. Discounts and other functions provide convenience for tourists to travel. It is expected that by the end of 2022, the “Water Rhyme Jiangsu” digital travel card will dynamically expand to 1,000 scenic spots, and gradually realize the connection from the province to the Yangtze River Delta, from the canal to the whole country, and to deliver “same city benefits” through digital technology. Thousands of tourists.
BOE Yiyun, Top, Magic Workshop… This year’s Games also attracted a group of leading companies in the cultural and tourism industry, specializing in new “little giants”, potential “unicorns” and “hidden champions” Enterprises will participate in the exhibition to gather and display the achievements of digital innovation and development in the field of cultural tourism.
During the Games, a batch of representative, leading and exemplary latest cultural and tourism projects were released to the society through the platform of the Games. At the Grand Canal Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Development Forum, the “Top Ten Grand Canal Fund Investment and Financing List in 2022” and “The 2022 Grand Canal Parent and Sub-Fund Recommended Project List” were released; at the Grand Canal City Cultural Tourism Consumption Forum, released “2021-2022 Jiangsu Cultural and Tourism Consumption Heat List” and “2021-2022 Jiangsu Cultural and Tourism Consumption White Paper”. Experts, scholars and industry professionals at the meeting shared the latest achievements in the development of cultural tourism, and discussed and exchanged new trends and new paths for the development of the cultural tourism industry.
Mutual learning and sharing to expand the “circle of friends” of the Canal
During this year’s Games, Jiangsu joined hands with cities along the Grand Canal inside and outside the province, as well as cultural and tourism enterprises and institutions, to continuously consolidate and expand the canal’s “circle of friends” for mutual integration. The Canal City Cultural and Tourism Boutique Exhibition attracted a total of 226 cultural and tourism enterprises and institutions from 36 cities in 8 provinces and cities along the Grand Canal, as well as Shanghai and Jiangsu Province counterpart support provinces. than 65%.
Entering the Canal City Cultural and Tourism Boutique Exhibition Area, in the exhibition hall, hundreds of flowers are blooming in the south of the Yangtze River, Qianqiu Huaiyang, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Beijing and Tianjin. The 36 cities participating in the exhibition along the canal have presented precious treasures for housekeeping, fully demonstrating the canal culture and urban charm.
The “Encounter of the Silk Road and the Canal” international exhibition attracted 105 companies from Central and Eastern Europe, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Thailand and other countries to participate in the exhibition, and more than 50 consul generals in Shanghai from 6 countries including Pakistan, Spain, and Malaysia, etc. Diplomatic envoys and representatives of institutions in China attended the opening ceremony, canal tour and other related activities.
The opening performance of the National Orchestra “The Grand Canal”, with music as the medium, with the local characteristic music of the eight provinces and cities along the route as the theme, was created and arranged, incorporating traditional musical elements such as Huangmei Opera, Hebei Bangzi, Shandong Folk Song, Zhejiang Wu Opera and Jiangsu Folk Song. The past and present life of the Millennium Canal was brilliantly performed by the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra, and was dubbed the “Canal Kaleidoscope” by the media.
The “Canal Food Culture Exhibition” invites more than 100 enterprises and 20 intangible cultural heritage food masters to display and sell more than 800 kinds of products on site, displaying the rich products and famous dishes of the Grand Canal Basin in an all-round way, fully reflecting the people along the Canal to conform to nature. Attitudes to life and cultural genes of pluralism.
An international exhibition with the theme of “The Encounter of the Silk Road and the Canal”, tens of thousands of featured products from 24 countries are displayed and sold. The Italian Pavilion highlighted the theme of “2022 China-Italy Tourism Year” and specially held the opening ceremony; Tanzania held special promotion activities, coffee, wine tasting, Muay Thai, African dance demonstrations, felt hand-made and other forms of experience activities were popular and effective. Promote the deepening of cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation between the Canal City and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, and continuously enhance the international influence of the Grand Canal cultural and tourism brand.
In the “China-Europe Oil Painting Art Exchange Exhibition” specially set up in the international exhibition, 41 famous contemporary Chinese masterpieces and 44 oil paintings from Austria, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Serbia and other European countries, as well as 3 Picasso and I.M. Pei, are gathered. The handwriting of famous masters not only brings an artistic feast to the audience, but also builds a platform for cultural and artistic exchanges between China and European countries. Painting, the common language of mankind, enables the Silk Road and the Canal to meet across regions, time and space in terms of culture and art.
According to statistics, there are more than 500 canals in the world, feeding more than 3,000 cities. In this year’s Games Expo, 105 cultural and tourism institutions and enterprises in China brought countless special exhibits, shared the canal friendship of the world canal family, and evoked common canal memories.
In the grand view garden of the National Games Expo, Chinese and foreign tourists shared the joy of cultural tourism. Overseas guests said that “The Games is a great event and a small world that promotes cultural and tourism exchanges.” Because of the Games, everyone can communicate and learn from each other together.
The Millennium Canal is endless, and the canal culture is endless. The splendor of the Grand Canal needs to be displayed and shared through exchanges and mutual learning. The organizer of the Games said that it will continue to dig deep into the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal, realize creative transformation and innovative development, make the beautiful central axis of Jiangsu more splendid in the new era, and create a cultural symbol with world influence for the exhibition. The image of the country, the spread of Chinese civilization, and the demonstration of cultural self-confidence make greater contributions.
