a railway, connecting China and the rest of the world; A train to let the cultural trade sail to the sea.
Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, an old area once famous for its industry, has not only redefined its own development path, but also bloomed a unique light on the stage of global cultural trade.
In September 2024, at the special exhibition of "Cultural Tourism Services" at the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the first stop of the China-Europe cultural train "Qingbaijiang" set sail, fully demonstrating the innovative and practical achievements of culture going overseas in the new era.
"Qingbaijiang" Sichuan cargo car
Take the train as the "carrying" to drive towards a new journey of culture to the sea
On April 26, 2013, the first Chengdu-Europe Express Railway (the predecessor of the Chengdu China-Europe Express) departed from Chengdu and finally arrived in Lodz, Poland, after a long journey of 9,826 kilometers. The opening of this train not only marks the official opening of the urban transformation of Qingbaijiang District, making Chengdu leap from the "end" of the national railway network to the "starting point", but also opening up a new channel for the export-oriented economic development of Chengdu and even Sichuan.
Since then, Qingbaijiang District has gradually built an international train route network and land-sea freight distribution system of "westward to Europe, northward to Mongolia and Russia, eastward to Japan and South Korea, and southward to ASEAN". Chengdu International Trains have radiated to 113 overseas cities and more than 30 cities in China, with a total of nearly 30,000 trains.
With the rapid development of China-Europe trains, the brand of "China-Europe Express Cultural Train" came into being. It is not only the carrier of logistics and transportation, but also the new "messenger" of cultural communication, shouldering the mission of showing the rich cultural heritage and outstanding scientific and technological innovation ability of Qingbaijiang District. It will actively help form the Chengdu paradigm of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, better help the Chinese culture empowered by science and technology to "go global", and promote the "hard economic connection" to "cultural soft connection" and then to "people's heart connection" with countries along the China-Europe train.
The "China-Europe Railway Express Cultural Train" deeply excavates the profound connotation of Bashu culture, shows the unique style of the integration of Eastern and Western cultures, and comprehensively promotes the diversified appearance of Qingbaijiang with an international vision and a sense of life at home and abroad. At the same time, as a platform focusing on exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations, it also actively disseminates the essence of Chinese culture and further promotes international cultural exchanges and understanding for the "Belt and Road" and the pan-European and pan-Asian regions.
Detail of "Qingbaijiang".
With CIFTIS as the "medium", we will accelerate the integration of digital trade and cultural industries
It is worth noting that the "China-Europe Railway Express Cultural Train" project in Qingbaijiang District is closely linked to the China International Fair for Trade in Services. As an important event in the field of global trade in services, CIFTIS has built a platform for domestic and foreign enterprises to display and communicate. Driven by this international platform, the digital trade project in Qingbaijiang District has gradually taken shape and shown great potential for development.
In 2020, the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Commerce took the opportunity of the CIFTIS to hold the Chengdu Digital Trade Promotion Conference, demonstrating to the world Chengdu's resource endowment and solid foundation in the field of digital trade, as well as the good development environment of Chengdu's digital trade industry. The holding of the promotion conference not only enhanced the international reputation of Qingbaijiang District and even Chengdu, but also continuously deepened the layout of Qingbaijiang District in the field of digital trade, laying a solid foundation for its subsequent cultural trade projects.
In 2022, CIFTIS will once again become an accelerator for the development of Qingbaijiang District. At this event, Qingbaijiang District and Beijing Qitian International Culture and Technology Development Group Co., Ltd. joined hands to jointly build the first metaverse digital cultural tourism industrial park in southwest China.
Through cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain, 5G, VR, AR, etc., the industrial park immersively and scene-based displays unique cultural resources such as Tianfu culture, new Silk Road culture, and Sanxingdui culture, and builds a metaverse digital space including theme parks, immersive boutique hotels, and immersive blocks.
With the continuous progress of technology, Qingbaijiang District has once again made a breakthrough in the exploration of digital cultural tourism. Based on the latest "5G + computing power network" technology, Beijing Shougang Park and Qingbaijiang Metaverse Digital Cultural Tourism Industrial Park realized the same screen interaction thousands of miles apart on the opening day of the 2023 CIFTIS. The technology "transforms" the steel furnace in Shougang Park and the old factory building in the ancient city of Chengxiang into the "entrance" of the science fiction world, displaying the achievements of the science fiction industry, scientific and technological innovation, and the integration of data and reality, and creating a "ceiling" level virtual experience.
At the 2024 CIFTIS, for the first time, led by Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, Chengdu Economic Development and Development Co., Ltd., Beijing Gehua Exhibition Co., Ltd. and the popular Qitian Group will join forces to jointly create a cultural exchange activity with the theme of "China-Europe Railway Express Cultural Special Train Starts from Here".
During the event, the original IP "Xiangdudu", which uses containers as carriers and integrates elements of traditional Chinese culture, Tianfu culture, Bashu civilization, and national treasure giant pandas, etc., comprehensively demonstrates the unique charm of cultural products and services and the innovative achievements of digital experience projects.
It is understood that the event takes the China-Europe cultural train as the core, innovatively integrates the "culture + technology" display and logistics channel, and builds a comprehensive platform integrating display, exchange and cooperation for Qingbaijiang District.
Tourists check in "Qingbaijiang"
With digital as the "wing", science and technology empower a new path for culture to go overseas
With the accelerated application of new technologies such as big data and virtual reality, digitalization has become the key to innovating products and optimizing the experience of cultural tourism projects. Through the empowerment of AI agents, the cultural tourism consumer market will usher in a new growth point.
As a young and historic city, Chengdu Qingbaijiang District is located on the central axis of Sanxingdui, Jinsha and Baodun cultures, and is the intersection of ancient Shu civilization, Central Plains civilization and Western Regions civilization, with the cultural characteristics of "ancient, modern, Chinese and foreign". As a historical and cultural treasure of Qingbaijiang District, the ancient city of Chengxiang not only retains the complete pattern of the ancient county town and historical buildings, but also radiates new vitality and vitality in the new era.
Through measures such as empowering the integration of culture and tourism with science and technology and creating new consumption scenarios, Qingbaijiang District has made this ancient city develop in protection and inheritance in development. With the empowerment of cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality, the history and culture of the ancient city of Chengxiang are presented in a more vivid and intuitive way, so that traditional Chinese culture can "come alive" and "go out".
Driven by the "China-Europe Railway Express Cultural Train" and the Metaverse Digital Cultural Tourism Industrial Park, Qingbaijiang District continues to explore new models and scenarios for culture to go overseas. In "Qingbaijiang", the vivid presentation of the super popular IP "Xiangdudu", the shocking launch of the world's first Westward Journey-themed VR large-space immersive experience "VR Wukong · Westward Journey Universe", Apple's Vision Pro large-space experience project "Exploring the Dream Firmament", and the immersive experience of "Awakening Ancient Shu" all show everyone the practical achievements of Qingbaijiang District in scientific and technological innovation and cultural integration.
The relevant person in charge of Qingbaijiang District said, "In the Journey to the West PVE experience car, the audience can 'cross' to the fantasy world with the theme of Journey to the West, follow the guidance of Monkey King to kill demons, and feel the charm of ancient Chinese mythology; In the Dream Exploration Sky Carriage, the audience can experience the immensity and mystery of space and pursue their dreams. ”
From Qingbaijiang to the world, the "China-Europe Railway Express" is not only a logistics channel connecting China and the world, but also a cultural road to convey Chinese culture and show China's charm. On this road, Qingbaijiang District is guided by scientific and technological innovation and based on cultural inheritance, constantly writing a new chapter in cultural trade.