The Launching Ceremony of “Millennial Canal & Watery Charm of Jiangsu” 2022 Hong Kong and Macao Culture and Tourism Promotion Successfully Held in Beijing

Carry forward the history and culture, seek common development. On July 27th, the 2022 “Beautiful China, New Experience” promotion activity and the launching ceremony of the 2022 Hong Kong and Macao Culture and Tourism Promotion Campaign sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China were successfully held in Beijing. Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of Culture & Tourism, YEUNG Yun Hung, Secretary of Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of Hong Kong SAR, and Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR delivered video messages respectively.

Open a New Chapter and Promote the Development of Hong Kong and Macao Cultural Tourism through History and Culture

Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, pointed out in his speech that 2022 is a crucial year for the 14th Five-Year Plan. In the year of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area has also entered a new stage of comprehensive and in-depth development. It is believed that the completion of cultural landmarks such as Hong Kong Palace Museum not only helps strengthen the cultural confidence and love for our country in people of Hong Kong and Macao, but also plays a positive role in telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voices on the global stage based on Hong Kong’s unique advantages of international vision and as a special administrative region.

Diversified Promotion to Unveil the Beautiful Picture of “Millennial Canal & Watery Charm of Jiangsu”

At the parallel session in Jiangsu with the theme of “Millennial Canal & Watery Charm of Jiangsu”, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism explained in detail the history of Jiangsu’s birth and prosperity due to the canal, highlighted the immortal importance of the canal as a flowing cultural heritage, and introduced comprehensively the cultural tourism routes and products of Jiangsu Canal to Hong Kong and Macao tourism industry and media representatives through online and offline interaction.

A Better Life by Canal

China’s Grand Canal stretches for 2,700 kilometers, including 790 kilometers in Jiangsu section, which is the earliest river section connecting the most water systems and covering the widest area, with the longest navigable waterway and the richest cultural accumulation. Over the long history, Jiangsu’s cultural characteristics of “Wuyue and Han Culture”, and “Literary Tradition and Watery Charm” and the canal culture of “communication, inclusiveness and openness” have been shaped. Jiangsu is the province with the most concentrated resources of canal heritage, among which the core area of heritage listed in the World Heritage List accounts for about 1/2 of China’s area of world heritage, the river sections of heritage accounts for about 1/3 of that of the country, and the number of heritage sites accounts for about 40% in the whole country. As a canal of wealth and happiness that has nourished cities and people on both sides for thousands of years, the Grand Canal has made Jiangsu a province with watery charm, great people and abundant natural resources.

Built by “Canal”, the Canal’s Past and Present in China Grand Canal Museum

China Grand Canal Museum, located on the banks of Sanwan River, is a key project in the construction of Grand Canal Cultural Belt and Grand Canal National Cultural Park, and springs up in the shape of “canal boat”. Different from other canal-themed museums that focus on a single region, a certain period of time or a certain river section, the exhibition of China Grand Canal Museum focuses on the full picture, and comprehensively exhibits the history and culture of the Grand Canal in its entirety. Visitors can view the past and present of Grand Canal spanning Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Canal in East Zhejiang in the museum, and see the hydraulic engineering wisdom, boat styles, salt transportation, trade and commerce, opera art, folk religions, food and customs, daily life, natural environment along the canal, and the connection between the Canal and the “Belt and Road”.

Hundred Scenic Spots by the Canal and Watery Charm of Jiangsu

“Water + culture” is a distinctive feature of Jiangsu. The “Hundred Scenic Spots by the Canal” represented by Yaowan Ancient Town of Xinyi in Xuzhou, Longwang Temple Temporary Palace Scenic Spot in Suqian, China Water Transport Museum in Huai’an, Slender West Lake Scenic Spot in Yangzhou, Xijin Ferry Site Historical and Cultural Blocks in Zhenjiang, Canal 5 Creativity Campus in Changzhou, Wuxi Qingmingqiao Historical and Cultural Blocks and Suzhou Panmen Scenic Spot have become the symbolic cultural tourism products and cultural symbols of Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal. These 100 representatives of Jiangsu Grand Canal, hand in hand, form a series of excellent cultural travel routes, offering visitors a fantastic journey from historical culture to present life. Huai’an, the capital of the canal, offers the irresistible Huaiyang cuisine; Yangzhou, the start of the Canal and where China Grand Canal Museum stands, is photogenic spot for social media; and Suzhou, as “the paradise on earth”, offers the experience of flying needles of embroideries. These are only a small part of the hundred scenic spots of the Canal. The warm lights from thousands of families with the shadow of oars along the ancient canal and the roar of contemporary ships on the Grand Canal all become the symphony of the times. The 100 scenic spots of the Canal demonstrate the high-level integration and high-quality development of Jiangsu culture and tourism. With the cultural legacy, and the surging innovation of cultural tourism, Jiangsu sends the world an invitation for mutual appreciation of civilization.

Eight parallel sessions were set up in Beijing, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing and Hong Kong for the promotional activities of “Beautiful China, New Experience” and the launching ceremony of the 2022 Hong Kong and Macao Culture and Tourism Promotion Campaign. Over 500 people including representatives from the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Citizenship Department of National Immigration Administration, the Foreign Affairs Liaison Department of National Cultural Heritage Administration, the United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee of China Communist Youth League, the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and relevant directly affiliated organizations, Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing, Office of the Macau Special Administrative Region in Beijing, Beijing Office of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Beijing Office of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, tourism enterprises in Beijing, related institutions, representatives of provincial (municipal) cultural and tourism departments (commissions), institutions of overseas study, representatives of relevant enterprises and chambers of commerce, and media reporters from the Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, attended the promotion activities.