West Journey to Silk Road Cities Cultural Tourism Industry Cooperation and Planning Exchange Conference Successfully Held in the Ancient City of Taiyuan

This series of events was jointly organized by the China Research Society for Journey to the West, Culture and Tourism Department of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Loufan County People’s Government. It is a national event of West Journey to Silk Road Cities culture aiming to earnestly study and implement XI Jinping’s thought on culture, actively participate in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, assist in building a culture power, and promote cooperation and exchange between various cities along the West Journey to Silk Road Cities, as well as their cultural and tourism development.

Representatives of the cultural and tourism industry from relevant cities of the exchange conference and more than ten expert representatives from Beijing visited Loufan, Taiyuan to conduct investigations and discussions on promoting collaborative development among the West Journey to Silk Road Cities, enhancing mutual empowerment of quality cultural content in those cities, and implementing urban cultural tourism industry planning, etc.

On the morning of March 21, the team from TASA and other guests together visited Loufan’s ancient history and legend—Daorengou Huaguoshan Temple and Loufan Ancient City Ruins at the invitation of the event organizers. They entered the natural ecological forest park—Yunding Mountain Scenic Area, and delved into Loufan’s red cultural and historical tourist attractions—GAO Junyu’s Former Residence, GAO Junyu Former Residence Memorial Hall, Jinci Temple, etc., fully experiencing the poetic and artistic conception of the mountains and waters in Loufan and the charm of its cultural heritage, and natural heritage.

Visit to Huaguoshan Scenic Area

Group Photo of the Visiting Team at Huaguoshan Temple

Visit to Yunding Mountain Scenic Area

Visit to GAO Junyu Memorial Hall

Visit to Jinci Temple

On the morning of March 22, the “2024 West Journey to Silk Road Cities Cultural Tourism Industry Cooperation and Planning Exchange Conference” was held in the ancient county of Taiyuan. Experts, scholars, cultural workers, and cultural tourism industry workers from Beijing, Fujian, Shaanxi, etc., attended the conference.

The conference was chaired by JIANG Huiyuan, Secretary-General of the Chinese China Research Society for Journey to The West. Secretary-General JIANG Huiyuan stated that the purpose of this conference is to leverage the leading role of the interconnected development of cultural and tourism pivotal cities and distributing hubs in regions in the West Journey to Silk Road Cities. By using cultural and tourism exchanges as a bridge, the conference will explore mutual promotion, resource complementarity, and industrial cooperation between cities across regions in depth and reflect the cultural heritage and vitality of cities through the high-quality content of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities, thereby promoting the development of local cultural and tourism industries, supporting the implementation of rural revitalization strategies, telling Chinese stories and spreading the voice of China in a proper manner.

LI Jiping, former Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Quanzhou Municipal Committee, delivered a speech on the “Significance of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities Cultural Corridor for the Development of Urban Cultural and Tourism Industry”. He elaborated on the significance of promoting the high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities from the perspectives of learning and implementing XI Jinping’s thought on culture to guide the cultural construction in the new era, accelerating the construction process of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities Cultural Corridor during the “14th Five-Year Plan”, and deeply exploring the rich Silk Road cultural resources of cities among the West Journey to Silk Road Cities.

Vice President WANG Jiansong proposed an implementation plan of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities cultural and tourism industry planning from four directions: the cultural and tourism of Taiyuan and West Journey to Silk Road Cities culture, the cultural background of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities, Tsinghua University and the West Journey to Silk Road Cities culture, and the planning case of the cultural and tourism industry of West Journey to Silk Road Cities.

In the sector of Loufan Westward Cultural and Tourism Industry Cooperation and Development, senior manager YOU Xiaotong shared the theme of “Constructing Loufan’s West Journey to Silk Road Cities Overall Tourism Planning Space with Artistic Creation in Villages”. The presentation proposed to interpret Loufan’s natural landscape, folk customs, cultural connotations, and rural life using the language of artistic design from multiple perspectives to uncover the unique natural and humanistic genes of the villages and creatively transform and innovatively develop them. By creating core artistic landscapes, beautifying the villages, renovating homestays and businesses, and improving tourism service facilities, efforts could be actively made to establish Loufan as a well-known domestic leisure resort area with a cultural art theme of West Journey to Silk Road Cities.

At the conference, several guests delivered keynote speeches, and government representatives at all levels, experts, scholars, and representatives of the cultural tourism industry discussed the value of the West Journey to Silk Road Cities culture, the empowerment of Loufan’s cultural and tourism industry with industries such as film and television, sports, and arts, as well as Loufan’s industrial construction.

This cultural exchange event and symposium has built a cooperation and exchange platform for the cultural tourism industry in regions among the West Journey to Silk Road Cities, provided a theoretical basis, and laid a solid cultural foundation for advancing the “West Journey to Silk Road Cities Cultural Tourism Industry Cooperation and Planning”. This event aligns with the future cultural sustainable development plan of TASA. Moving forward, the Academy will carefully study, draw experience from, and fully utilize the outcomes of the event to actively promote the implementation of the planning for the culture and tourism industry of cities among the West Journey to Silk Road Cities. It will further explore the cultural IP of West Journey to Silk Road Cities, empower the urban cultural tourism industry through artistic creation in rural areas, collaborate with regions among the West Journey to Silk Road Cities in the country, facilitate the integration of cultural and tourism industries across different regions, and strive to create a new era of cultural prosperity and development.