Cultural China Tour丨A river of vitality, playing the song of the times

　A vibrant river, playing the song of the times

　　—— The second in a series of reports on "Millennium Canal, Charming Tianjin".

Exterior view of Ancient Culture Street.

　　The Grand Canal, the scenery of the past and the present, the culture is timeless, and the vitality is becoming more and more prominent.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the Grand Canal is a precious heritage left to us by our ancestors and a mobile culture, which should be protected, inherited and utilized as a whole, and required the protection of the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal to be integrated with the protection of the ecological environment, the protection and restoration of famous cities and towns along the route, the integrated development of cultural tourism, and the transformation and upgrading of canal shipping, which pointed out the direction for the high-level promotion of the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal's culture.

　　In recent years, our city has thoroughly implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on protecting, inheriting and making good use of the Grand Canal, and issued the "Special Plan for the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism of the Grand Canal in Tianjin", which will "seamlessly connect" the natural resources, cultural heritage, and humanistic connotation along the canal. It will create favorable conditions for the economic and social development of the regions along the Grand Canal and the improvement of people's lives, so that the Grand Canal will radiate a new style of the times.

　　This "golden waterway" bubbling from the depths of history, in the picture scroll of the new era, is passionately writing the contemporary value of the canal, and sonorously playing the song of the times of the canal.

　　Tell the "canal story" in the hometown of Jinmen

　　Culture is the soul of tourism, and the Grand Canal, as a living cultural heritage, has become a historical legend and a scenery in the depths of people's hearts through the generations of people who have passed on the stories that have happened here.

　　Wandering in Yangliuqing Town, Xiqing District, known as the "Pearl of the Canal", is full of simple and heavy canal atmosphere.

　　"Pick up the bride!" Xiao Xiao, a tourist from Beijing, came to Yangliuqing Town to play and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Shijia compound was "doing happy events". Dressed up to receive relatives, poems in the flower hall, and viewing the ceremony in the theater...... It turned out that this was an immersive folk culture performance called "Shifu Liangyuan". The performance integrates intangible cultural heritage items such as opera, opera, and Shang's velvet flower production skills, and visitors become guests to participate in interaction and performance. The activation and utilization of historical and cultural resources allow the "guests" to experience the customs of the canal people in the festive and lively atmosphere.

　　Unlike Xiao Xiao, who took the "land route" to Yangliuqing Town, Wu Qian, a citizen, came along the "waterway". In May this year, the Haihe River cruise "Yangliuqing Canal Cultural One-Day Tour" route was launched. The cruise starts from the ancient culture street wharf, sails through the Haihe River, the North Canal, and the Ziya River, along the way there are Tianjin landmarks such as the Lion Forest Bridge and the Eye of Tianjin, as well as the natural scenery lined with green trees, accompanying the visitors to the Yangliuqing Baitan Temple Wharf. After the visitors land, visit the Yangliuqing Manor and Yangliuqing Folk Culture Center, and experience the production of Yangliuqing woodblock New Year paintings...... From "land" to "water", the various ways of travel have become a new navigation to understand the culture of the Jinmen Canal.

　　The canal culture is full of style, and there is always a "new" after thousands of years. "A fat child is so festive, holding a koi carp fluttering ......" accompanied by the melodious singing of the opera, and the woodblock prints of willows and green "moved" on the stage. The "Legend of Yang Liuqing" created and rehearsed by Tianjin Pingju Baipai Theater Troupe innovatively integrates two national intangible cultural heritage projects, Yangliuqing woodblock New Year paintings and Pingju, and has been well received once it has been staged. This "relish cultural specialty" depicting the story along the canal attracted many visitors from other places. Wang Guanli, the leading actor and head of the troupe, said that the play has been polished recently, and an immersive performance version is planned to be launched in the later stage.

　　The Youyou Canal continues the thousand-year-old cultural context, and also moistens the literary and artistic creation of Jingu. The drama "Strange People in the World" is adapted from Feng Jicai's short story collection of the same name, dozens of strange people in the original book are unrelated, and the Grand Canal brings rich inspiration to the main creators, they set the story along the canal, and celebrate the truth, goodness and beauty and show Jingu culture through the strange people and strange things in the "Cannon Lantern Tavern" by the canal; The drama "Canal 1935" performed by Tianjin Renyi gathers high-quality performing arts resources from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, vividly presenting the touching stories of the times of the children of the canal; The national symphonic poem "Grand Canal" jointly performed by the Tianjin Song and Dance Theater Chinese Orchestra, Beijing Chinese Orchestra and Hebei Chinese Orchestra combined the power of the three places to play the canal colorful movement.

　　These literary and artistic works dig deep into the cultural spirit and connotation of the canal, and let people feel the pure beauty and vitality flowing in the thousand-year-old canal in the performances that the people like to see.

　　Drawing the "Poetry and Distance" of the Canal Country

　　The Grand Canal has nourished the land on both sides of the river and injected new vitality into rural revitalization. The beautiful countryside by the canal has become a "poetry and distance" that tourists yearn for.

　　In early spring, in Pangzui Village, Beichen District, at the confluence of Yongding River and North Canal, the continuous sea of begonia flowers is eye-catching. Pangzui Village not only has Begonia Art Garden, Peony and Peony Medicine Garden, but also "small fresh" style homestays, "art fan" exhibition halls, old steamed buns and other delicacies. Cultural and tourism activities such as the Farmers' Harvest Festival, the Begonia Flower Art Festival, and the Peony and Peony Flower Festival attract more and more tourists to experience the beauty of the canal villages.

　　At the turn of spring and summer, the 2024 National "Walking the Grand Canal" National Fitness Walking Activity was held in Sixth Port Village, Xiqing District. The 4-kilometer walking route is set along the canal system, and along the way, there are sometimes green wheat, sometimes flashes of "small lotus showing sharp corners", and when you look up, there are kites of different shapes dancing with the wind. "Walking strengthens the body, and the canal scenery is pleasing to the eye, which is really refreshing!" Huang Yinghong, a citizen who participated in the event, said happily.

　　The canal is the "life" of the villages along the river, and it is also the "spring water" of rural tourism. The water of the canal flows through Chenguantun Town, Jinghai District, making vegetable planting and vegetable pickling a local characteristic. With the development of the times, Chenguantun Town has built a 12.5-kilometer "green corridor" on both sides of the strait to create a canal cultural sightseeing and tourism belt. Opened in 2016, the Chenguantun Canal Cultural Museum is the country's first township-level canal cultural museum.

　　"The Grand Canal in Jinghai District is 49 kilometers long, flowing through 6 townships, and the longest in Chenguantun Town, with 12.5 kilometers. Let's look at the miniature canal at your feet, it tells the story of Chenguantun Town's prosperity because of the canal...... "In the museum, Jiang Yishan, a young cadre, talked about the Grand Canal like a treasure. Jiang Yishan is not a local, but since she came to work in Chenguantun last year, canal culture has flowed into her life and heart. She listened to her colleagues tell the story of the canal, chatted with the villagers about folk customs, read books such as "The History of Chen Guantun", and participated in the work of patrolling the river and protecting the river. She incorporated her insights into the explanation, hoping that this precious cultural heritage would be passed on. According to Tao Mengzhen, the director of the museum, the Chenguantun Canal Cultural Museum has received more than 400,000 tourists at home and abroad since its opening.

　　The flowing canal water connects the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Since its establishment in 2017, the "Tongwulang Tourism Development Alliance" has launched 10 high-quality tourism routes, including the intangible cultural heritage tour of ancient rhyme preaching and the tour of poetry and painting of the local canal, to promote the linkage of cultural tourism projects in the three places. Zhang Fugang, director of the Wuqing District Culture and Tourism Bureau, said: "Wuqing District has made good use of the rich historical and cultural resources along the canal, and continued to deepen the integrated development of agriculture, commerce, culture and tourism. In recent years, the annual number of tourists has increased from 4.2 million to 12 million, and about 70% of the tourists come from Beijing and Hebei, and the tourism revenue in 2023 will exceed 5 billion yuan. During this year's 'May Day', more than 100 cultural and tourism activities in the 2024 'Tongwu Corridor' cultural exchange season and the second Grand Canal Cultural Festival were widely welcomed, and the main scenic spots and commercial venues in the region received a total of 814,000 tourists during the 'May Day' period, achieving a turnover of 210 million yuan. ”

　　Reshape the cultural and tourism space of "ancient and modern".

　　The North Canal, the South Canal, the Ziya River, the confluence of the three rivers, is known as the "cradle of Tianjin" Sancha estuary. On the west side of the Sancha estuary is the famous hometown of Jinmen - Ancient Culture Street.

　　There are more than 600 years of history of wooden structure building - Yuhuang Pavilion, there is a combination of Chinese and Western residential buildings - Tongqingli, there is transplanted and rebuilt Tianjin's first modern government-run financial institution - Guanyinhao...... In front of the gate of Tianhou Temple, two 26-meter-high flags witnessed the prosperity of the past as the "lighthouse" of the Caoyun period.

　　Today, the ancient culture street is still full of people and lively. Walking around the old buildings, turning around the intangible cultural heritage time-honored brands, tasting the delicious food, all the way down, visitors feel the indescribable antiquity, relish, and cultural flavor. Shuttling through the antique gatehouse, walking among the rows of shops, Guo Ren Zhang, Clay Man Zhang, Yangliu Qing Woodblock New Year Paintings, Gui Faxiang Eighteenth Street Twist, Lianshengzhai Embroidery and other intangible cultural heritage time-honored brands can be seen everywhere, and young people are often seen shooting trendy blockbusters in ancient style dresses on the street, and Internet celebrity anchors are performing live broadcasts. Fashion elements inject the vitality of the times into this old street, and the unique scenery of ancient and modern blends attracts visitors from all over the world.

　　In February this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Tianjin Ancient Culture Street for inspection. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Tianjin is a city with great characteristics and charm, and it is necessary to protect and make good use of historical and cultural districts to make them shine in the construction of a modern metropolis.

　　In order to polish the tourism business card of the old city, Nankai District continues to promote the construction and upgrading of the Gulou-Ancient Culture Street area, and has successively introduced special plans to strive to build a "Sancha Estuary Core Exhibition Park" that integrates cultural display, commercial leisure, tourism experience and other functions.

　　Wang Jing, director of the Nankai District Culture and Tourism Bureau, said: "In order to promote the development of cultural inheritance, we have held a series of activities such as the Drum Tower New Year Lantern Festival and the Tianjin Ancient Culture Street Folk Culture and Tourism Festival. ”

　　According to reports, during the Spring Festival this year, the ancient culture street received 1.83 million tourists and sales of 162 million yuan, an increase of 37% and 466% respectively over 2019; During this year's "May Day", the ancient culture street received 1.224 million tourists and sales of 108 million yuan.

　　With the change of the sun and the moon, the water of the Youyou Canal continues to update the footnotes of urban culture and reshape the new space of urban cultural tourism. If the ancient culture street is a passing on the ancient rhyme, then the Tianmei Art District, which is also located in the Sancha estuary, is another contemporary interpretation of the canal culture.

　　At the end of last year, the exhibition area of the TiMi Art Block project was opened to the public. Here, the corner plot of the shed will be transformed into a music bar, the boiler room and medical waste disposal room of the former Tianjin Second Hospital will be transformed into an art space, and the landscape of the road section will be upgraded to the corner art museum, and paintings, sculptures, and gardens will be cleverly implanted, and culture, art, and business travel will be organically integrated, adding innovative vitality and artistic color to the urban renewal picture scroll along the Grand Canal.

　　At the "Noise Reduction Workshop", a music bar in the neighborhood, the artistic atmosphere and melodious music are intoxicating. "Post-90s" Tian Ying is a singer and the manager of the noise reduction workshop, and the historical heritage along the Sancha River estuary and the canal attracted her to Tianmei Art District. Tian Ying said: "The scenery and cultural history around the neighborhood can be called a postcard of Tianjin's cultural tourism, and in such an atmosphere, I believe we can create a more tasteful local music brand in Tianjin." ”

　　In the first month of the opening of the noise reduction workshop, 30% of the audience came from other places, and tourists from Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan and other places left memories of Jincheng in the music. On the banks of the canal, friends from all over the world are connected by music, and young people play modern melodies for the ancient canal style. "We hope to provide more people with a way to get away from the hustle and bustle, and use high-quality music to present a surprising stop to tourists' Tianjin journey." Tian Ying said frankly.

　　In the bustling cityscape, there is also a picturesque ecological scenery. The Grand Canal is rippling with blue waves, and peach blossoms are blooming on the embankment. "Taohuadi has a history of hundreds of years, and its profound historical heritage and rich cultural resources can be fully excavated and utilized." Liu Zhijian, director of the Hongqiao District Culture and Tourism Bureau, said. This year, the district held the 33rd Tianjin Canal Peach Blossom Culture, Trade and Tourism Festival, with Taohua Causeway and Xigu Park as the main venues, a number of commercial complexes as sub-venues, and also connected Tianzi Jindu Park, the former site of Peiyang University and other cultural and tourism resources. During the period, the main venue received a total of 648,000 visitors, and the passenger flow of Tianjin Lujiazui Commercial Center increased by 39% year-on-year, and sales increased by 70% year-on-year. Pengxin Aqua City traffic increased by 10% year-on-year, and sales increased by 12% year-on-year. Tourists enjoy the beautiful scenery, taste the culture, enjoy the food, the canal culture, the natural scenery, and the business travel consumption complement each other.

　　The water vein connects the cultural context, and the cultural context attracts people. Nowadays, more and more people are looking for poetry and distant places along the canal: board a cruise ship and feel the different canal style of Tianjin's symbiosis between the river and the sea; Walk into the theater and enjoy the legend of the thousand-year-old canal; Stroll along the river and listen to the pulse of the canal in the cityscape; Wander the countryside and savor the simple and authentic gift of the canal...... The story of the canal in the new era is being written wonderfully in cultural landmarks and in a journey to Jingu.