"Cultural Exports" Put "Lianyungang Charm" on the World Map

From: Lianyungang Daily Updated: 2024-12-30 03:47

On December 24th, the 4th International Communication Forum on Cities was held in Nanjing. Reference News Agency and Xinhua News Information Center jointly released the "Analysis Report on the Overseas Influence of Chinese Cities (2024)".

The report shows that our city has been selected as an international communication demonstration case for cities (districts). This is the third consecutive time our city has been selected as an "International Communication Demonstration Case for Chinese Cities (Districts)" since being chosen as a "Characteristic Case of International Communication for Chinese Cities" in 2021.

Born by the sea and advancing alongside it, the open marine culture has infused Lianyungang people with the courage to climb mountains and venture into the sea. It has also allowed the city's international communication power to ride the wind of the "Belt and Road" and reach Cairo on the banks of the Nile, Almaty at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, Mokpo at the foot of Judasan Mountain, and London beneath Big Ben...

With broad strokes, the brush of "cultural exports" paints a detailed and exquisite "Belt and Road" picture, putting "Lianyungang Charm" on the world map.

Using Art to Highlight "Culture" Launching the "Boat of Stories"

"Listen, this is a very beautiful folk song from their country. It seems to praise a flower called jasmine."

"Look, she's wearing traditional Chinese opera costumes. How oriental and charming!"

On the last weekend of August, Astana, located at 51°N latitude, felt even chillier. At the Astana International Financial Center, as the curtain fell, Kazakh male youth Sergey and another young woman named Nastya couldn't help but whisper to each other. This was the second time the girls from the Jiangsu Women's Folk Orchestra had performed here since their performance during the "Jiangsu Week" cultural event at the Astana Expo 2017. The Ishim River, flowing through the city, joyfully echoed the melodies from the East. The President of Astana International University, Ilsaliyev, was also infected, "We must deepen exchanges and better build a bridge to promote friendly relations between Kazakhstan and Lianyungang."

Under the "Belt and Road" initiative, what are the challenges and opportunities for Lianyungang's cultural exports? They lie in the cognitive limitations and strong curiosity of people overseas. Therefore, in foreign exchange activities, our city pays attention to both high standards and accessibility.

Walking into Kok-Tobe Park in Almaty feels like being in a magnificent Kazakh town. Xue Mengya from the Huaihai Opera Troupe marveled at how the prosperity here did not clash with the atmosphere of the "Three Kowtows and the Clamor of Drums" that she performed. So, outside the square filled with a Ferris wheel, TV tower, and Kazakh yurts, she, dressed in vibrant colors, gently waved her sleeves and recited, bringing this national intangible cultural heritage into the local community through a "pop-up" performance. At the creative market nearby, over 70 cultural and creative products, including “Journey to the West”-themed dolls, book lights, and lacquer fans, attracted countless people. Enthusiastically, they wrote blessings like "Hello, China!" on themed T-shirts.

Using art to highlight "culture" empowers the "Belt and Road" and builds a "new bridge" for people-to-people connectivity.

City promotion centers have been established in countries such as Kazakhstan, and "bookshelves" have been set up in libraries in countries such as Georgia. Activities such as the Lianyungang-Arkhangelsk International Chess Online Championship have been organized. This year, our city has held 15 humanities exchange events, with foreign participants from over 50 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, and Honduras.

More and more people from Lianyungang are participating in "cultural exports", showing the rich diversity of traditional Chinese culture to the world. Sun Hongxiang, a master of arts and crafts, amazed Malaysia with her "Journey to the West" paper-cutting, and Wei Juan brought the "Haizhou Sentiment" song and dance program to the "British Spring Festival Gala"... The connotation and extension of the "Lianyungang Story" have become more vivid because of them.

A New Paradigm for Cross-Network Interaction　Attracting "Cloud Audiences"

Recently, on Lianyungang's overseas media account, titled "Hometown of the Great Sage", the "Wanderlust with Sun" comic series and videos have attracted significant attention on foreign networks. In the images, Sun Wukong from the Japanese manga "Dragon Ball" and the Chinese 3A game "Black Myth: Wukong" appears alongside "Sun", an IP image designed by our city, capturing the world's attention.

Centering on the city brand image of "Hometown of the Great Sage, Wonderland of Journey to the West —— A Magical and Romantic City", and combining it with the preferences of overseas media fans, our city launched the comic character "Sun" in June this year. By retaining Sun Wukong's classic look of a purple-gold crown and red armor, the character showcases his spirited, handsome, and agile demeanor. When Eastern aesthetics meet modern technology, countless people overseas have seen the "international style" of "Lianyungang Culture". To date, the column has been viewed over 1.6 million times.

In the internet era, how do new narrative and communication paradigms impact and promote "cultural exports"? The answer is that they allow young people overseas, who hold the new discourse power, to have a "new" understanding of Lianyungang.

By innovating overseas media narratives to polish the "Hometown of the Great Sage" IP, our city combines real-life photos with comics to lead overseas fans into the "Hometown of the Great Sage". Fu Jianmuhan, from Turkey, is a long-time fan of the overseas media account. "When I was pursuing my PhD in Hangzhou, I came across the 1986 version of 'Journey to the West' by chance. It was very interesting. Now, both of my sons are avid fans of 'Journey to the West'. With the popularity of 'Black Myth: Wukong', they even argued to come with me to visit Sun Wukong's hometown!"

Using the internet to gather "energy" paves the way for the "digital Silk Road", attracting "cloud audiences" from around the world.

Through overseas media, our city has planned a series of content with prominent themes and deep integration of local characteristics. For example, during the Paris Olympics, themed countdown posters were launched, cleverly fusing our city's landmark, the Ashoka Stupa, with the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Simultaneously, posters featuring Lianyungang athlete Gong Xiangyu were designed to cheer on the Chinese women's volleyball team. To date, the overseas media account has 353,000 fans on the Facebook platform, with a page reach of 19.3 million; on the X (Twitter) platform, the reach exceeds 9.6 million.

A "multi-faceted" communication matrix is still being constructed, including designing and producing the first overseas promotional brochure entirely in foreign languages, innovatively developing a bilingual (Chinese-English) corpus for explanation s at foreign-related sites, and carefully crafting foreign affairs cultural T-shirts that carry the cultural elements of Lianyungang's "mountains, sea, port, and city"... With these communication methods and creative ideas, Lianyungang showcases its unique charm where antiquity meets modernity.

Industrial "Transformation"　Promoting a "Mutual Journey" of Civilizations

Recently, at the Donghai Crystal Cross-border E-commerce Trading Center, live streamer Jiang Qiuyue went live on time, starting a three-hour English-language broadcast. About two years after graduating from university, leveraging her English major, she has gained over ten thousand fans, mostly from countries along the "Belt and Road". At this moment, on the live stream screen, a customer from the United States asked about the price of a crystal jewelry piece. Jiang Qiuyue quickly calculated and quoted the price, saying, "It will be delivered to you in about 14 days."

"Crystal carving techniques" are a national intangible cultural heritage project. In Donghai County, with a population of 1.24 million, about 300,000 people are engaged in crystal processing, marketing, and supporting services. Thanks to the development of cross-border e-commerce under the "Belt and Road" initiative, 350,000 crystal products are sold globally every day, with annual crystal transactions exceeding 40 billion yuan. In nearly 100 countries and regions, including Brazil, Uruguay, and Madagascar, over 6,000 people from Donghai are active in various aspects of crystal collection, processing, transportation, and trading. Their presence provides more opportunities for "cultural exports".

How can cultural enterprises better play a role in "cultural exports"? It's by making our city a hotspot for foreign businessmen to seek cooperation, a fertile ground for foreign talents to showcase their skills, and a rich soil for foreign tourists to visit.

The port terminal with forests of masts and the undulating Yuntai Mountain... Seeing these, Mr. Park from Incheon, South Korea, was thrilled. This year, our city was designated as one of the 13 port cities in China allowing 15-day visa-free entry for cruise passengers. As a member of the first international cruise tour group from South Korea to Lianyungang, he followed more than 40 fellow countrymen on the Sino-Korean ferry, embarking on the long-awaited "Lianyungang leg" of their journey. According to Song Jian, the passenger transport director of the ferry, since the "Lianyungang-Incheon" route resumed operation on December 25, 2023, Lianyungang Port has successfully welcomed over 25,000 passengers. With excellent service satisfaction and efficient operational efficiency, the Lianyungang route ranks first among the 16 maritime routes currently operating between China and South Korea.

Attracting customers through "commerce", we walk together on the great path, achieving mutual appreciation of civilizations.

In recent years, our city has leveraged the dividends of industrial transformation to promote a new path for "cultural exports": A crystal craftwork enterprise in Donghai has been selected as a key national cultural export project; nail wraps, themed clothing, and other products have continued to ride the wave of "going global" in dozens of countries and regions with the help of the "digital +" platform; and intangible cultural heritage products such as wickerwork of Ganyu District and shell carving in Lianyun District are even exported overseas.

From the "mythical mountain on the sea" to the "land of grass", and to every corner of Asia, Africa, and Latin America – the "Belt and Road" is not only a path for "trade interconnectivity" but also a path for "cultural exports". The great path is as smooth as a whetstone, connecting the world.