When the maple poplar forest in Xixinan Town, Huizhou District welcomes nearly 2 million visitors annually, and when the bronze sacred tree of Sanxingdui "communicates across time and space" with audiences through naked-eye 3D, China's modern cultural and tourism industry is reshaping the connotation of "poetry and distant lands" with vigorous momentum. From rural ancient villages to cultural famous cities, from intangible cultural heritage (ICH) workshops to digital scenic spots, the cultural and tourism industry has become an important force driving economic growth and inheriting cultural roots. However, in this unprecedented wave of development, how to uphold the original aspiration while advancing and maintain quality while expanding has become a thought-provoking proposition of the times.
Cultural activation is the core code for the development of cultural and tourism. Taking "village innovation" as the starting point, Xixinan Town has implemented "acupuncture-style" protection for 83 ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has transformed fish lantern night tours and ICH handcrafts into immersive experiences, turning the ancient village from a "static relic" into a "dynamic space". As a result, tourists' stay time has extended from 2 hours to 4 hours, proving through practice that cultural core is the lasting appeal of tourism. Wuzhen, on the other hand, has sorted out ICH techniques such as shadow puppetry and indigo printing and dyeing, and established a resident sharing mechanism. It not only retains the style of a "living ancient town" but also allows local residents to share development dividends, breaking the homogenization dilemma of "thousands of towns looking the same". These cases confirm that the vitality of cultural and tourism lies in the in-depth excavation and innovative expression of local culture.
Technological empowerment has brought new vitality to cultural and tourism experiences. In Beijing's digital art spaces, Shang and Zhou dynasty patterns realize interactive evolution through AI technology; VR technology in Nanjing Museum allows tourists to "travel back" to the maritime scenes of the Ming Dynasty; the "AI intelligent agent" in Huangshan Scenic Area actively provides guide explanations according to tourists' routes, making smart services accessible. Zhejiang's launched "one-code travel" service enables foreign tourists to complete the entire process of ticket purchase, consumption and travel with just a mobile phone. Covering more than 30 key scenic spots within six months, it has demonstrated the improvement of tourism convenience by technology. Digital technology has not only broken the time and space limitations of traditional tourism but also provided a younger way of cultural communication.
The in-depth integration of ICH and cultural and tourism has opened up a new path for common prosperity. Jingxian Xuan Paper Town has transformed 108 papermaking processes into experience projects, and the micro-performance "Only Because I Am in the Paper Mountain" has turned tourists from "spectators" into "characters in the play", with tourist volume increasing by 13% year-on-year during the National Day holiday. Wuqiao Acrobatics has adopted an all-time layout of "watching during the day + performances at night", making the millennium-old art a core tourist attraction, and the holiday tourist volume has nearly doubled. In Liuba County, Shaanxi Province, the "ICH + homestay" package has achieved annual sales exceeding 15 million yuan, and more than 400 women have achieved stable income increase through ICH-related positions, demonstrating the social value of the cultural and tourism industry.
On the way of development, a few scenic spots still have problems such as serious homogenization and excessive commercialization, and some ancient towns and cities have fallen into a "half-empty city" dilemma due to the lack of cultural core. However, these deficiencies have not hindered the industry's progress. More places are breaking through with innovative practices: Nanxun Ancient Town has launched the model of "full-region accommodation and panoramic free admission", with supporting bilingual services and tax refund convenience, and the number of foreign tourists has increased by 302% year-on-year; Xixinan Town has enabled the collective economy of 6 administrative villages to exceed 500,000 yuan each through the benefit-sharing mechanism of "one village driving five villages"; ICH projects such as Wuqiao Acrobatics and Dongyang Indigo Printing and Dyeing are attracting a new generation of consumers through fashionable expression and younger communication.
From the policy-level support for scenario cultivation to the market-level exploration of format innovation, China's modern cultural and tourism industry is iterating through problems and improving in practice. In the future, when digital technology further empowers cultural inheritance, when local characteristics are deeply integrated into tourism experiences, and when the concept of shared development runs through the entire industry, the cultural and tourism industry will surely achieve the leap from "scale growth" to "quality improvement". This journey involving culture, economy and people's livelihood will eventually blaze a development path with depth, temperature and brightness through upholding the original aspiration and daring to innovate.
