BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- On the morning of Oct. 1, the first day of China's National Day holiday, the Confucius cruise ship slowly pulled away from a port in Jining, east China's Shandong Province, setting off for Nanyang ancient town on the city's southern outskirts.
Named after the famous ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, the ship was bound for a 2-hour-plus journey, passing stretches of the Grand Canal, the world's oldest artificial waterway system, which connects rivers in northern and eastern China and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014.
"We chose the cruise after seeing online that it offered a rich cultural experience," said Zhao Xiaojie from the provincial capital Jinan, as she and her 11-year-old son read the ancient texts on the cabin's decorations inspired by the Six Arts -- the six foundational disciplines of ancient Confucian education.
Her choice reflects a broader trend during this year's National Day holiday, as cultural content is weighing more and more heavily in China's tourism products.
NATIONAL DAY EXTRAVAGANZA
"Cruises have operated on the same route before, but the Confucius incorporates many cultural elements and intangible cultural heritage experiences, turning it into a moving showcase of Confucianism on the Grand Canal," said Zhang Feng, head of the cruise route.
The round-trip ticket includes shuttle services to scenic spots and admission to the Kangqian Bieyuan and Huji Qianzhuang attractions. Visitors can also watch a traditional fishermen's wedding ceremony and cormorant fishing performances in Nanyang ancient town, Zhang said.
Such packages bring together Confucianism and the culture of the Grand Canal, he added.
The unusual holiday calendar this year, with the Mid-Autumn Festival falling just three working days before the National Day holiday, has given fresh momentum to the integration of culture and tourism.
Data from Chinese online travel platform Ctrip showed that one in 10 travelers chose to combine the two holidays by taking three days off to create a 13-day break. Nearly half of those taking an extended break traveled for more than eight days.
The longer holidays have expanded the travel radius of Chinese tourists, bringing cultural and tourism products in more remote and lesser-known destinations into the spotlight.
In Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, for example, tourists gathered at a square to pound freshly harvested rice and prepare new rice, filling the air with its aroma.
"New rice festival activities and service facilities have been upgraded this year, allowing visitors to experience the authentic culture of the Wa ethnic group," said Li Lei, deputy general manager of the Cangyuan County Tourism Investment Company.
Traditional culture is not the only draw. A growing number of travelers are also visiting landmarks associated with China's revolutionary history, driven in part by the patriotic sentiment associated with the National Day holiday.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, which lasted from 1934 to 1936. The arduous journey helped lay the foundation for the eventual victory of the Chinese revolution.
In Yudu County, east China's Jiangxi Province, the Memorial Park of the Starting Point of the Central Red Army's Long March has attracted large numbers of study-tour groups and is expected to receive nearly 300,000 visits during the seven-day holiday.
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said the flow of visitors to revolutionary landmarks reflects people's emotional identification with the revolutionary traditions.
When they travel, they don't just want to see history; they also want to draw deeper inspiration from the revolutionary legacy for their lives today, according to him.
INNOVATION REMAINS KEY
The trend has also fallen in line with a series of development plans China released recently.
The 15th Five-Year Plan for culture and tourism development, released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in September, calls for deeper integration between culture and tourism and their mutually reinforcing development with other areas of the economy and society. It stresses supporting the development of distinctive cultural industries and tourism in former revolutionary base areas.
Moreover, it calls for expanding the space for cultural and tourism development, with deeper integration moving from resource consolidation and product integration toward new business models and broader applications.
Hong'an Township in Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, has put such innovation into practice, drawing 190,000 tourist visits in the first two days of the holiday.
Leveraging the cultural appeal of Border Town, a novel by renowned Chinese writer Shen Congwen, as well as its unique location where three provincial-level regions meet, the township has developed immersive, scenario-based tourism offerings that combine folk experiences, local cuisine and the nighttime economy.
In Shandong, seven cities have joined forces to combine seven popular online-literature IPs with the region's landscapes and historical sites, encouraging fans to turn fictional worlds into real-life travel destinations.
The model uses storytelling familiar to Generation Z to breathe new life into traditional cultural and tourism resources, converting online popularity into real-world tourism consumption.
"The route runs from west to east, so fans can take a high-speed train and visit a different 'chapter' every day, which is very convenient," said Liu Wei, a fan of online literature born in the 2000s.
For industry insiders, such efforts to generate more immersive cultural tourist activities are also necessary.
Wu Liyun, a professor at Beijing International Studies University, said scenic spots once relied mainly on ticket sales, which is often unsustainable today.
"The core of the industry transformation lies in adding more experiential offerings and opportunities for secondary consumption, with the focus on everyday settings, local culture and lifestyle-oriented services," she said.
GLOBAL DRAW
The shift has appealed to inbound travelers as well.
With China offering unilateral visa-free entry to citizens of 50 countries and full mutual visa exemptions with 29 countries, its tourism industry has also been working to offer overseas tourists a wider range of immersive trips centered on cultural experiences.
In Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, where the Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July, growing numbers of overseas visitors are exploring historic sites, taking part in art workshops and browsing handicraft markets, while enjoying distinctive cafes and homestays.
The city, known as the "Porcelain Capital," now offers a range of experiences for visitors seeking to explore its centuries-old ceramic traditions, according to Zhang Chen, a local tourism industry insider. Options include a one-day program combining an introduction to local ceramic culture with hands-on pottery making, or a three-day workshop led by inheritors of intangible cultural heritage.
"Many overseas visitors now seek a deeper cultural connection, rather than simply sightseeing," Zhang said.
In Beijing, veteran tourist guide Dou Junjie feels a similar trend. He provides guided bicycle tours along the Beijing Central Axis, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2024 that covers former imperial palaces and sacrificial structures.
"More overseas visitors to Beijing would like to experience local life and learn about local culture," Dou said.
According to Gao Zhengyang, a guest researcher with Jiangsu Su Merchants Bank, immersive travel across destinations is replacing sightseeing and photo stops, a wider range of trendy Chinese products is making its way onto tourists' shopping lists, and the mix of visitors is becoming more diverse. Gao said all of these trends point to improvements in the quality of "China Travel."
Data from Ctrip shows that bookings for one-day tours by inbound tourists during this year's National Day holiday and the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday surged by over 400 percent year on year, with scenic spot ticket sales up more than 220 percent and train tickets more than 170 percent.
Li Xinjian, a professor at the Beijing International Studies University, said the growth in inbound tourism during what is traditionally a peak season for domestic travel reflects the increasingly diverse experiences on offer.
"Overseas tourists are finding that China offers not only beautiful scenery but also engaging cultural experiences," he said.
For Wu Liyun, value-added services such as the cultural experiences in Jingdezhen and Beijing are particularly important, as they are far more appealing than standardized products and usually leave a much deeper impression on travelers.
Wu believes Jingdezhen's model can be replicated in terms of how cultural content is presented. She cited her hometown of Linyi in Shandong Province, where willow weaving products are widely exported, and tourists can try their hand at the traditional craft and take their own creations home.
"Every city has its own ways of life passed down through generations," she said. "What you are accustomed to in the place where you live can be incredibly fresh and novel to outsiders." ■
