Wuqiao Acrobatic World is renewed

On October 20, 2023, the opening ceremony of Wuqiao Acrobatic World Jianghu Cultural City. Photo by Hebei Daily reporter Wang Yanan

Hebei Daily reporter Shi Xiaoduo

A few days ago, the reporter walked into the Wuqiao Acrobatic World Scenic Area, the life scenes of Wuqiao acrobats in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China were reproduced one by one, and the rough and shocking hard qigong and all kinds of juggling tricks showed the traditional folk culture of the hometown of acrobatics. As one of the representative projects of the integrated development of intangible cultural heritage tourism in Hebei Province, Wuqiao Acrobatic World highlights the local characteristics of "acrobatic hometown", accelerates the in-depth integration of acrobatic cultural tourism, and creates a cultural tourism consumption hotspot of "so close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei", which has attracted the attention of a large number of tourists.

Show a new scene of acrobatic temple fair

Enter from the south gate of Wuqiao Acrobatic World Scenic Area, and not far away is the central attraction of the scenic spot - Jianghu Cultural City. Majestic city walls, long ancient roads...... As I walked, I suddenly felt like I had gone back in time, and the thick history came to my face. Walking into the "Ghost Hand House" theater in the city, Wang Ligang, a acrobat, was dressed in a national style costume and was performing "Three Immortals Return to the Cave", with superb skills and winning applause from the audience.

Wang Ligang introduced that in the past, Wuqiao artists walked along the canal to perform their arts, and some big cities on both sides of the canal appeared famous artist activity gathering areas, such as Beijing's overpass, Nanjing's Confucius Temple, Tianjin's "three regardless" and other acrobatic distribution centers.

In Wuqiao, the "September Temple Fair" originated in the Ming Dynasty is also a place where folk acrobatics gather, and people gather in Wuqiao from all over the world every year to catch the temple fair, expressing their prayers for a better life and their love for local culture. In order to reproduce the traditional acrobatic performance scene and the prosperity of the "September Temple Fair", in November 1993, the Wuqiao Acrobatic World Scenic Area was completed and opened. Among them, the Jianghu Cultural City reproduces the market of the old county town of Wuqiao in the early years of the Republic of China.

"Tourists followed the ancient costume equestrian, traditional flags and other performance teams into the Jianghu Cultural City, which kicked off the tour. Entering the city, interactive links such as the 'Luzu apprenticeship ceremony', acrobatic class masters and knuckle meetings allow the audience to immerse themselves in the fun of acrobatics. Zhang Ling, manager of Wuqiao Acrobatic World Tourism Co., Ltd., said.

Entering the city, there are 3 different tour routes for tourists to choose from, blowing the sky, going to the knife mountain, kicking the drum, handstand skills, rings, jiu-jitsu modeling and other programs are staged in turn, so a lively acrobatic "rivers and lakes". "With the support of relevant departments of Cangzhou City and Wuqiao County, Wuqiao Acrobatic World has gradually developed into an acrobatic performance and tourist destination. Zhang Ling said that at present, Wuqiao Acrobatic World 8 traditional acrobatic old artists known as the "Eight Monsters of the Rivers and Lakes", has become the "golden signboard" of the scenic spot, and at the same time, the grand scene and lively atmosphere of acrobatic opera are staged in turn, so that tourists can fully feel the charm of Wuqiao traditional acrobatic temple fair.

Activate the new format of acrobatic culture

Recently, Wuqiao Acrobatic World staged a shocking trapeze performance. On the shelves tens of meters high, the acrobats stood quietly, the lights hit them, and the audience waited with bated breath. As the music plays, the actors begin to flip, relay, and jump in the air...... Every action is gripping and attracts continuous applause from the audience.

In Wuqiao Acrobatic World, such wonderful performances can be seen everywhere. The large-scale acrobatic show "Canal Impression", with the context of "the four seasons of the canal and the beauty of acrobatics", uses acrobatic elements to connect the scenes of Canal Park, Wuqiao Wharf, Liangdian Water Station, and 10,000 acres of sorghum garden, showing the charm of "Colorful Canal and Acrobatic Capital". In the "Blowing the Sky" theater, He Shusen, an acrobat known as "Blowing the Sky", has a kettle on his head and blows suona, he not only blows suona, but also performs juggling and ventriloquism, and the whole performance climaxes.

"In order to show the charm of acrobatic culture, we have also built a funny zoo, a circus amusement park, an acrobatic museum and other attractions, and launched tourism brands such as 'Hundred Opera Theater', 'Ghost Hand House' and 'Canal People'. Zhang Ling said that they also created and launched the live drama "Jianghu Love", the acrobatic drama "Times" and "Memories of the Grand Canal", "Happy Farmer", "Wuqiao Jianghu Love" and other folk performing arts masterpieces, so that the extreme beauty of acrobatic art and the beauty of sound and light on the modern stage are deeply integrated.

"The acrobatic performances here are different from those seen on the film and television stage, which are more real and more ornamental, not only can you fully experience the spirit of 'breaking into the rivers and lakes', but also enjoy the thrilling acrobatic performances and cultural performances with strong local characteristics, which is really worth the trip!" Zhang Xiangjun, a tourist from Zhengzhou who brought his children to play, was deeply impressed by the various performances of Wuqiao Acrobatic World.

In the process of enriching and improving the tourism and performing arts industry in the scenic spot, Wuqiao Acrobatic World also takes advantage of holidays to launch acrobatic intangible cultural heritage show stunts, large-scale light shows, romantic balloon rain, intangible cultural heritage iron flowers, special food, southern lion and northern dance and other marching fun performances. Immersive holographic performances and interactive exhibition viewing experience make visitors refreshed.

Completed landscape lighting and infrastructure upgrading...... With the increasing improvement of supporting facilities, experiential formats such as cultural tourism consumer products and cultural displays have been accelerated, and new consumption formats of Wuqiao Acrobatic World are constantly emerging and are full of vitality.

Draw a new picture of the integration of culture and tourism

"In order to make it easier for tourists to enjoy the acrobatics, we have also carefully optimized the accommodation services around the Acrobatic World. "Coming out of the north gate of Wuqiao Acrobatic World, there is a dome building on the east side of the city gate. Zhang Ling told reporters that it was the Red Peony Hotel, which had just been renovated last summer, and the hotel was integrated with catering, entertainment and accommodation.

Walking further east from the Red Peony Hotel, the newly built Canal People's Food Street is rising with "folk fireworks". The reporter saw that some merchants have settled in the food street, including barbecue restaurants, rice noodle shops and cultural and creative shops, and some shops are either busy decorating or busy distributing goods, which is a prosperous scene.

Zhang Ling introduced that in recent years, the local government has built Yunjing Jinling Acrobatic Hotel, Jiuzhang Cultural and Creative Park, Jinding Ancient Books Museum, etc., around the acrobatic world, and actively planned and implemented projects such as Acrobatic Dream Factory and Red Peony Acrobatic Cultural Research Base, and constantly improved the integrated acrobatic industry matrix of eating, living, entertainment and shopping, so that tourists can turn their heads, see their heads, eat their heads, talk about their heads, and think about their heads, and continue to expand the brand influence of "so close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei".

Driven by the Acrobatic World Scenic Area, a number of farmhouses and characteristic homestay projects such as Sangyuan Town, Anling Town, and Caowa Township have emerged, attracting foreign tourists, especially many tourists from Beijing and Tianjin, allowing tourists to share the stories on both sides of the canal in watching acrobatics, and making the hometown of acrobatics glow with new brilliance. The villages along the canal are clean and beautiful, which has promoted the further acceleration of rural revitalization and formed a pattern of integration of acrobatics, cultural tourism and industry.

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