The loess-covered land of the Sanjin Dynasty has a deep imprint of the survival and development of the Chinese nation and has witnessed the endless Chinese history. Some people say that the civilization on the ground looks at Shanxi. Stepping on this ancient land, the thick historical charm and the new cityscape are harmoniously integrated, and the beautiful picture of "poetry and distance" jumps into the eye.
Prosper the brigade with culture, and highlight the culture with the brigade. Promoting the in-depth integration of culture and tourism and building a culturally strong province and internationally renowned cultural tourism destination in the new era is an important deployment for Shanxi to promote economic and social transformation and development in an all-round way, and it is also a powerful measure to tell Shanxi's story well and promote China's excellent traditional culture.
The beautiful Shanxi, the characteristic landscape continues to "go out of the circle"
A sacred flame at the site of Xihoudu ignited the first ray of light of Chinese civilization; the discovery of the Taosi civilization proved the appearance of "original China"; and half of the silkworm cocoon at the site of Xiyin Village pushed the history of sericulture of the Chinese nation to the Stone Age...... This fertile soil of Shanxi connects millions of years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history, and retains the complete memory of the Chinese nation.
The dotted ancient buildings have given the land of Sanjin the reputation of "the treasure house of ancient Chinese architecture". Among them, Pingyao Ancient City, Yungang Grottoes and Wutai Mountain, as the three major world cultural heritage sites in Shanxi Province, are not only the unique cultural symbols of Shanxi, but also the well-known tourist attractions at home and abroad. Shanxi is also a red homeland full of revolutionary traditions, with many revolutionary sites and rich red cultural resources, continuing the national spirit of perseverance and hard work. Relying on the rich history and culture, Shanxi has gradually formed five characteristic cultural zones, including the northern Biansai Buddhist Cultural Zone, the central Jinshang Cultural Zone, the Southern Genzu Cultural Zone, the Central and Western Yellow River Folk Cultural Zone, and the Southeast Taihang Ecological and Cultural Zone, where the context of Chinese civilization has become clearer.
Yungang Grottoes Buddha. Photo by Niu Muyao
Ying County Wooden Tower. Photo by Sun Yujia
Taihang, the Yellow River, the Great Wall inlaid as a frame, build the momentum of the mountains and rivers in the surface, mountains, basins, hills, canyons and other topography and landforms converge in a province, the topographic characteristics of the mountains and rivers make Shanxi Province there is no lack of magnificent scenery, one of the five mountains Heng Mountain is in Shanxi, the world's largest yellow waterfall Hukou Waterfall is in Shanxi, and the most beautiful mountain in China is in Shanxi...... The climatic characteristics of no scorching heat in summer and no severe cold in winter make Shanxi livable in all seasons and have different scenery. In addition, the abundant and unique health care resources have also become Shanxi's business card to promote the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry.
Hospitality Shanxi, tourism products continue to "score"
How to transform the unique cultural and natural resources into rich tourism products, and attract more tourists at home and abroad to enter and fall in love with Shanxi?
In recent years, Shanxi Province has continuously increased policy support, focusing on both ends of "supply" and "demand", in-depth development of cultural tourism products, and efforts to build Shanxi brands, and Shanxi cultural tourism continues to "score".
Launch "tourism +" products with temperature, highlights and characteristics to let tourists "slow down" and "stay". In the ancient city of Pingyao and Wutai Mountain Scenic Area, relying on the advantageous resources of characteristic performing arts, the large-scale immersive live drama "See Pingyao Again" and "See Wutai Mountain Again" was launched, deeply integrating the characteristics of the scenic spot with local culture. It is reported that including "See Pingyao Again" and "See Wutai Mountain Again", Shanxi has initially formed ten major tourism and performing arts brands with great influence, which has greatly enhanced the audience's "cultural tourism" experience.
Stills from the performance of "See Pingyao Again". Photo by Qiao Zengjun
Based on the characteristics of regional resources, we will create a "core attraction system" and shape a new form of tourism. In the ancient city of Pingyao, visitors can immerse themselves in the poetry and wine culture scene through real-life displays, character interactions, and theme performances...... The unique tourism scene enhances the sense of experience and acquisition of tourists.
Ancestor worship ceremony in Dayang Ancient Town. Photo by Niu Muyao
Shanxi vigorously promotes the upgrading of high-grade scenic spots, focusing on the high-quality resources of the Yellow River, the Great Wall and Taihang, and taking the three No. 1 tourist highways as the link, implementing the echelon cultivation and building of leading scenic spots, building a brand matrix of scenic spots, promoting the transformation of high-quality resources into high-quality products, and meeting the diversified needs of tourists with characteristic tourism such as cultural experience, parent-child research, health and wellness vacation, urban leisure and rural vacation.
In addition, smart tourism has made Shanxi's well-known scenic spots continue to "go out of the circle". In the Hongdong Big Locust Tree Scenic Area, the immersive experience hall and AR intelligent guide glasses that were launched during the May Day holiday last year attracted a large number of young people to come to play and experience; in the Guandi Temple of Jiezhou in Yuncheng City, with the help of VR/AR and other interactive technologies, the history and culture, geographical location, climate change, and group photos of the characters of the scenic spot are presented in a three-dimensional way; 3D panoramic modeling, vividly restoring the classic lady patterns of Pingyao push-light lacquerware, and the vivid "color sculpture" of the maid of the Song Dynasty in the Jin Temple travel through time and space, and walk out of the volley man dance in the temple of Our Lady... ...
Let tourists become frequent visitors, "flow" becomes "retention", the cultural tourism industry is fighting for products and services in the final analysis. "This is my second time in Shanxi, the first time I came to Baquan Gorge, I experienced the cruise, cableway, sightseeing elevator, I felt the good environment, good scenery and good supporting facilities of Baquan Gorge. Said the tourist during the tour. Shanxi has made every effort to shape the brand of "tourism satisfaction in Shanxi" by continuously improving the construction of tourism infrastructure, the construction of tourism standard system, the investigation of tourist satisfaction and the unannounced monitoring of tourism service quality.
Transformation of Shanxi, the cultural tourism industry "blossoms" in many points
During the Spring Festival holiday, tourism in Shanxi has become a craze, and the flow of people in various scenic spots has doubled, and netizens have described "100 million people have come".
According to the 2023 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué of Shanxi Province, the province's key monitoring scenic spots received 80.705 million tourists in 2023, an increase of 163.4% over the previous year, ticket revenue was 2.69 billion yuan, an increase of 219.0%, and operating income was 4.53 billion yuan, an increase of 195.4%. The cultural tourism industry is showing strong resilience and vitality, injecting strong new momentum into promoting high-quality economic and social development and writing a chapter of Chinese-style modernization in Shanxi.
Last year, around the recommendation of cultural and tourism resources, investment promotion, project cooperation, industrial development planning, etc., Shanxi cities actively held cultural tourism recommendation investment conferences. At the China Taiyuan Cultural Tourism Promotion and Investment Promotion Conference held in Taiyuan City, 67 cultural and tourism projects were signed on the spot, including 38 Chinese tourism industry projects with a total amount of 17 billion yuan, and 12 cultural and tourism projects with a total amount of 5.232 billion yuan were signed at the 2023 Yangquan Cultural Tourism Investment Promotion Conference held by the Yangquan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government......
The development of the cultural tourism industry has also rejuvenated traditional old streets and old shops. Taiyuan Bell Tower Pedestrian Street, known as a thousand-year-old street, takes "night tours, night banquets, night shopping, night performances, night entertainment, and night stays" as the main tone, creating a variety of new formats such as cultural and creative living spaces, cultural concept stores, characteristic cultural catering, and intangible cultural heritage experiences, and becoming a cultural and tourism commercial block that integrates historical traditions and modern trends, cultural tourism and modern consumption.
Taiyuan City Bell Tower Pedestrian Street. Photo by Niu Muyao
In recent years, in the face of the growing demand for health and elderly care and the market situation in short supply, Shanxi Province has seized market opportunities and promoted the in-depth integration and development of medical care, elderly care, health care, culture, tourism, sports and other key areas around key areas such as health care, elderly care, health care, culture, tourism, and sports, and also stimulated local economic development on the basis of promoting the transformation and upgrading of scenic spots. "Xiyagou is a typical Taihang water town, both the majesty of the mountain, and the softness of the water, we have created a set of accommodation and catering, leisure and entertainment, folk customs experience, health and vacation as one of the tourism comprehensive service body, the scenic spot leaseback 120 sets of resettlement houses for local villagers, built with more than 1,800 beds, the country's largest high-end health care homestay group. Xia Qingli, head of the brand operation department of Jincheng Wang Mangling Scenic Area, said.
"Taihang Water Town" Xiyagou. Photo by Niu Muyao
This year, the two sessions in Shanxi proposed to accelerate the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry, establish a tourism development index system, and accelerate the development of the cultural and tourism industry into a strategic pillar industry and a people's livelihood and happiness industry. With the upgrading of the cultural tourism industry, Shanxi is constantly turning its own resource advantages into industrial advantages and development victories!