Dalian's Extraordinary Decade: Rise of Cultural Soft Power Colorful Cultural Tourism for a Better Life

Bei Bei, a giant mechanical bear in Xiongdong Block of Wisdom Park 

"In the past, my child was too shy to talk to others, but now my dear is confident, singing aloud in the center of a room instead of standing quietly in the corner. I'm delighted with the changes that have happened to my child, and I really want to share the changes in my WeChat Moments. In addition to these changes to my child, I would like to share the progress Dalian has made and how lively the city has become," a resident of Dalian Zhang Xiaoming said with joy. Ding Ning, Zhang's child, took part in the 2022 Public-interest Cultural Programs: Vocal Course for Kids. Zhang also noted that the public-interest cultural programs organized by the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism provided a good chance for her child to enter the music world. As an effective carrier of shared cultural services for urban and rural areas in Dalian, the public-interest cultural programs have offered diversified courses and covered more areas, helping more residents benefit from high-quality public cultural services since its establishment in 2018.

What is the most popular, internet-famous cultural tourism attraction in Dalian in the summer of 2022? Bei Bei, a giant mechanical bear in Xiongdong Block of Wisdom Park must be one of the most popular idols out there. Wisdom Park is a smart industrial park reconstructed on the previous industrial site of the Dalian Bingshan Group. Xiongdong Block, the home of Bei Bei, is an area for urban renewal, renovation of industrial heritage, and development of a cultural, commercial, and tourism complex. Meanwhile, Xiongdong Block has also become a popular site for young people to visit. Many cultural tourism projects have been carried out in Dalian, such as Houku Creative Industrial Park, HeShe Art, and Salzburg Maze in Sanhuan Pasture. The integration of culture and tourism improves urban cultural tourism in Dalian and satisfies people's needs for better living standards.

Culture is the root and guidance of development, helping us achieve robust development and leading to prosperity. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Dalian has thoroughly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thoughts on the development of culture and tourism. The city has been firmly focused on reform and stable development in these two fields. A group of major projects, policies, and measures beneficial to residents in both short-term and long-term periods have been carried out, realizing prosperity and achievements in cultural tourism development. Meanwhile, the development of cultural tourism has also played a positive role in meeting people’s cultural needs, gathering the spiritual power of the masses, and enhancing cultural soft power in Dalian, thus bolstering the development of the pilot areas for industrial structure optimization and economic and social development in the new era.

In the past ten years, the public cultural service system in Dalian has improved. Targeted and online cultural services provide residents with greater convenience. At present, Dalian has 13 public libraries, 12 cultural centers, 29 museums, more than 700 rural cultural yards, and 32 brand-new public cultural spaces. Comprehensive cultural stations (centers) have been set up in 148 townships (sub-districts), and 1,651 villages (communities) have cultural and sports activity rooms. A public cultural service and facility network, covering urban areas, counties, townships (sub-districts), and villages (communities) of Dalian has been formed. The project for expanding broadcast signals at highways and traffic tunnels in the main urban area of Dalian is underway. Wireless digital television programs are more accessible for households in Dalian, and digital television broadcasting has reached almost every household. Dalian has launched online digital cultural platforms and is involved in a series of cultural activities that span public-interest cultural programs and opera performances in rural areas. People-oriented cultural consumption cards have been released for residents to enjoy professional art performances and more than 600 artistic activities are held annually. The first batch of demonstration areas of the national public cultural service system was established in this city.

In the past ten years, the cultural tourism industry's scale and competitiveness in Dalian have grown remarkably. Total tourism revenue in Dalian has grown from CNY 76.72 billion in 2012 to CNY 165.7 billion in 2019. The average annual growth rate of tourism revenue, from 2016 to 2019, reached 13.21 percent. The total growth of the cultural and relevant industries of Dalian in 2019 accounted for 4.1 percent of the total GDP in the city. Dalian has 57 A-level tourist attractions, four national cultural industry demonstration bases, four national key rural tourism villages, more than 30 characteristic cultural and creative industry clusters, and along with more than 8,000 tour guides from 508 tourism agencies. Meanwhile, the city has launched 18 major tourism series, covering over 300 tourism products, and promotes more than 100 cultural tourism events every year. Dalian has been selected as a national pilot area for the development of cruise ship travel and a pilot city for the development of national culture and tourism market credit economy. What’s more, it has been awarded several honorable titles, such as being one of the first groups of model cities of tourism and recreation and the best summer resort in China.

Significant achievements in the development of culture and tourism have been made in this city. Over the past ten years, the quality and efficiency of culture and tourism in Dalian have witnessed outstanding improvement. The city is focused on people-centered development, giving access to abundant cultural and tourism services that boost residents' sense of gain and happiness. Life in Dalian is filled with colorful cultural tourism.