Much has been made of the Chinese film industry’s struggles to regain the glory days of pre-pandemic box office records, but a government-led push for film tourism appears to be starting to help the broader domestic economy recoup some of what it lost in cinemas.
This year has seen reports of a tourism boom in areas such as the northwestern province of Qinghai thanks to Lunar New Year box office receipts. Pegasus 3with hotel bookings in the city of Dilinga, the filming location, rising by 71 percent year-on-year during the February holidays, according to data from travel platform Qunar. Meanwhile, a current box office sensation in the country, Dear youhas led to a similar rush, as flights to the three cities in which the family drama is set — Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang — have doubled since the film’s release in late April.
Local and national tourism authorities – and the Chinese film industry in general – threw their weight behind what became known as “Film Plus,” a campaign that led to campaigns such as “Tasting Cuisine with Movies” and “Shopping with Movies” backed by the China Film Administration.
The Shanghai International Film Festival is also focusing on this phenomenon this week with “Grand Landscapes: A Cinematic Portrait of China,” a program featuring a selection of 15 classic Chinese films dating back to 1960 and showcasing some of the country’s most famous tourist sites.
“Film tourism has become a big trend in the last five years,” explains Frieda Fan, director of programs and screenings at the Shanghai International Film and Television Events Centre, the festival’s organizing body. “Last year, we had Ni Cha 2This makes Yibin City in Sichuan very popular with visitors. And also in case Creation of gods The series, Heritage in Henan was very popular. Here in Shanghai, it was because of movies B to be busy and Her story Daily life in Shanghai revealed its charm. The long one [alleyways]Cafés and grocery stores that appear in movies have become favorite destinations for young people to go on City Walk tours.
SIFF encourages visitors and locals alike to do the same, promoting local attractions that people may recognize from films while using the “Grand Landscape” program to push audiences to expand their travel horizons. Classical music of the 1960s Liu’s third sister It was a sensation upon release thanks to its stunning scenery in southern China’s Guangxi region, while Tsui Hark’s 2014 film was a huge hit Capture of Tiger Mountain I headed to the snow-covered peaks of Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China.
“Basically, we were thinking of a way to provide a concise history of Chinese cinema from a geographical perspective, while showcasing the internal richness of Chinese cinema, the cultural diversity and the intergenerational legacy of Chinese filmmakers,” Fan explains. Fan says the team selected films of high artistic value that also represent the country’s distinct regions and cultures — “from the mountains of Tibet to Hainan Island,” and from the Yellow River in the north to the Yangtze River in the south. “Many of them are classics known to an entire generation.”
In recent months, China’s state-run media has provided extensive coverage of the film tourism trend, closely following the fortunes of cinema. Dear you and its impact on eastern Guangdong Province, as well as charting the indirect impact of the world’s second-largest film market on the broader local economy.
A recent report by the China Film Administration claimed that every yuan raised at the local box office generated 15.77 yuan for “related industries” across the country, with tourism being the main beneficiary.
Fan admits that 15 films are too few to capture the country’s full diversity. But the programmer adds that this section is “our small attempt to show the beauty of the land and its poignant stories by revisiting Chinese classics.”
