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Borneo Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Long-stay tourism boom ignites ‘cool economy' in China highlands
An aerial photo taken on July 18, 2025 shows a local Yizu Dage team performing during a parade show on the ancient street of Nanzhao in Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. – Xinhua photo KUNMING (July 26): At his guesthouse in southwest China's Kunming, Zhang Cheng wiped down the counter in preparation for the next wave of arrivals, as the country's highland summer migration unfolded, a seasonal drift measured not in days but in months. 'Since summer began, we've had almost no vacancies,' he said. A steady stream of guests from the sweltering nearby regions of Sichuan and Chongqing is replacing the usual ebb and flow of tourists in this capital city of Yunnan Province. As scorching heat blankets much of China, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, with average summer temperatures of 15 to 21 degrees Celsius, are experiencing the explosive growth of 'cool summer residencies'. Yunnan alone hosted 2.8 million long-stay visitors in the first half of 2025, a surge of 45.4 per cent year on year. These visitors stayed an average of 91 days, 11 days longer than the previous year. In the province's Qujing City, famed for its cooler summers, companies like Licheng Residential Leasing are transforming idle homes into managed residences. This summer, Licheng has provided over 100 beds and three meals daily through contracted residential homes in the city's Niujie community, hosting over 200 guests so far. Industry experts believe that traditional tourism often funnels spending into transportation and tickets, limiting local economic benefits, whereas tourism engaging local residents retains more spending within the community. In Qujing, for example, dining accounts for 40 per cent of long-stay visitors' spending, vastly exceeding the 10 per cent typical of short-stay tourists. The city welcomed 2 million long-stay visitors last summer, peaking at 270,000 daily, generating 23.6 billion yuan (around US$3.3 billion) in revenue. Leveraging its national forest park, Xishui County in Guizhou has developed 28 summer residence projects across six townships, now housing 36,000 households, mostly from other provinces. Since June, hotels and homestays have reported peak seasons. Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy, highlighted the shift of the tourism model 'from simply leveraging cool climates to integrating culture, wellness and learning'. He cited the example of children joining forest rangers for plant identification in a nature science camp while parents learn local crafts, as well as one in Yunnan's Dali that combines cool air with holistic healing through yoga in the forest. Recognising the potential, China's National Development and Reform Commission issued guidelines in 2023 to boost summer tourism, urging better products and infrastructure. According to Rao Xiangbi, deputy director of Yunnan's culture and tourism department, long-stay visitors now flock not just from nearby Sichuan and Chongqing, but increasingly from Guangdong, Zhejiang, and even the northernmost Heilongjiang Province, with over 80 per cent being young and middle-aged people. Experts from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation have noted that such climate-adaptive tourism is a growing necessity globally and is poised to become a defining future trend as climate change intensifies. – Xinhua China highland Kunming Summer tourism Xinhua
Express Tribune
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Gaming revives China's heritage
Chinese video games are increasingly connecting ancient culture with younger generations. Through immersive digital design and real-world collaborations, homegrown titles are inspiring young players to rediscover traditional arts, driving tourism and reinforcing cultural confidence. One prime example, Ashes of Kingdom, immediately captured players' imaginations after its domestic launch last September, attracting fans with its richly detailed late Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220-280) world. In Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, young gamers flocked to the city's historic landmarks, including Slender West Lake, Ge Garden, and He Garden, as they were transformed into immersive in-game quest hubs. From mid-May to late June, the collaboration project drew thousands of visitors eager to trace the lacquerware motifs featured in the game. "The game has drawn many Gen Z travelers to Yangzhou to discover its beauty through its landscapes, cuisine and traditions," said Dai Bin, deputy director of the city's culture and tourism bureau. During the three-day Dragon Boat Festival, the Yangzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Treasure Museum welcomed approximately 20,000 visitors daily, a significant portion of whom were gaming enthusiasts. Under the guidance of master artisans, visitors sketched, inlaid and polished Luodian - also known as mother-of-pearl inlay - on wooden panels, transforming digital motifs into tangible artworks. This "game-plus-heritage" model turns cultural landmarks into living classrooms, Dai added. Cultural tourism-related online searches of the city surged by 300 percent during the month-long project as Gen Z travelers flooded in to experience Han culture firsthand, according to data. Behind these successful activities stand young development teams who weave authentic history into modern gameplay. "We chose a few representative cultural fragments - lacquerware, guqin music and traditional attire - to spark curiosity," said Xiao Meng, the producer of Ashes of Kingdom. "It's a two-way journey: We invite players in and they, in turn, bring new perspectives to our shared heritage," she said. Booming industry National policies and education initiatives are fuelling this cultural craze further. In April, the Ministry of Commerce rolled out a game export plan that calls for the development of overseas gaming operations, the expansion of application scenarios, and the establishment of an industrial chain spanning IP development, game production, publishing and international operations. Industry data underscores this momentum. According to the 2024 China game export report, Chinese-developed games achieved overseas sales of USD18.56 billion in 2024, representing a 13.39 per cent increase from the previous year. In April this year, the Ministry of Education approved game art design as an undergraduate major at three institutions, including the Communication University of China and the Beijing Film Academy, with courses covering player psychology and the digital preservation of traditional aesthetics. "A systematic design theory is needed in the gaming industry in China, and through education, we aim to instill more professional design principles and drive the sector's healthy development," said Liang Qiwei, a guest professor at the Communication University of China's School of Animation and Digital Arts and the founder of Beijing's S-GAME. Thanks to the gaming boom, the revival of China's traditional culture has moved beyond a mere trend, coming alive through a rich array of vivid cultural symbols and platforms. Take Black Myth: Wukong as an example. The game was inspired by classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, which features the Monkey King, and became an instant global sensation, selling over 10 million copies across all platforms within three days of its launch. The game's global acclaim has marked significant progress in China's endeavours to promote its culture overseas, demonstrating its increasing ability to break through barriers and overcome obstacles on the global stage, said Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University. Video games have become one of the most important media forms for cultural exchange, but developers must first ensure gameplay remains entertaining and cultural elements enrich rather than overshadow the overall experience. The key to tapping into China's cultural resources is to present them through innovative contemporary expression, Liang said.
