Two Scenic Routes, Cultural Tourism Thrives
In 1982, the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province opened to the public. Spontaneous outdoor tent-stage performances by local residents emerged sporadically. In 1994, the Jiuzhaigou Ethnic Art Troupe successfully held its debut performance at the newly completed Jiuzhaigou Hotel Performance Hall, marking the entry of government-led performance market into a stage of specialization and industrialization. In 2006, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster was designated by the Ministry of Culture as the second batch of National Cultural Industry Demonstration Bases, leading to rapid development of the Jiuzhaigou performance market. The cultural connotation of Jiuzhaigou tourism continuously expanded, visitors' cultural experiences were enhanced, and the tourism industry chain covering accommodation, dining, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment kept extending. The agglomeration effect of integrated tourism and cultural development grew increasingly prominent, playing a vital role in industrial integration, cultural dissemination, and market optimization.
Achievements of Cultural Tourism Integration in Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster
After years of development, ten performance groups represented by "Jiuzhai Eternal Love" and "Tibetan Mystery" have formed the largest performance industry cluster in Tibetan areas nationwide, capable of accommodating over 10,000 visitors daily. The operation of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has played an active role in deeply integrating Jiuzhaigou's tourism resources, multi-layered presentation of ethnic culture, comprehensively enhancing tourism reception capacity, maintaining social, political, and economic stability, and driving poverty alleviation and prosperity among local residents, yielding substantial benefits.
(1) Political Benefits.
The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has gathered outstanding performance talents and cultural elites from the prefecture, province, and even the whole country, continuously improving performance standards and creating nationally influential repertoires. In 2010, "Tibetan Mystery," a panoramic display of the essence of Tibetan culture, was included in the national key export projects. In 2013, "Tibetan Mystery" and "Jiuzhai Paradise Dream Trip" were awarded "Top Ten Excellent Tourism Performance Repertoires of Sichuan Province." The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has become the main venue for disseminating excellent traditional culture of Tibetan areas and building cultural confidence among ethnic groups. Millions of visitors each year enjoy cultural feasts, experience Tibetan and Qiang customs, and learn about ethnic history here, greatly promoting interaction, exchange, and integration among different ethnic cultures, enhancing the emotional identity of the Chinese nation, consolidating ethnic unity, and promoting social stability in Tibetan areas.
(2) Economic Benefits.
The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has generated enormous economic value and benefits during its development. Taking the period before the "8.8" Jiuzhaigou earthquake as an example, the "2016 China Tourism Performance Market Report" indicated that in 2016, tourism performances nationwide received 53.91 million visitors, achieving ticket revenue of 4.303 billion yuan. Among them, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster received 1.852 million visitors, achieving ticket revenue of 175 million yuan, accounting for 3.4% and 4.1% of the national performance market, respectively. In the same year, the box office revenue of the tourism performance market in Southwest China was 935 million yuan, with the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster accounting for 18.7%. Its stable market leading position demonstrated significant exemplary and leading effects.
(3) Cultural Benefits.
While continuously enhancing its own cultural appeal, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster actively supports the inheritance of traditional culture and the development of cultural industries in Jiuzhaigou County and surrounding areas. In the large theme park "Jiuzhai Eternal Love," authentic Tibetan and Qiang cultural elements such as Tibetan watchtowers, Qiang stockaded villages, and the Ancient Tea Horse Road, along with ethnic songs and dances, folk customs, Tibetan Nuo opera, and folk acrobatics, are centrally displayed and generate value. National intangible cultural heritage items such as "Zhuo Dance" and "Nanping Tunes" have been further protected and inherited. Special tourism cultural and creative products like Tibetan "Xiangba," "Big Jiuzhai·Little Jiuzhai," and "Jiuzhai Gift" have been successively developed. Folk literary and artistic creation flourishes, with original songs such as "Mountain Peach Blossoms Blooming," "Jiuzhai Joyous Song," and "Villagers and Neighbors" deeply loved by audiences. The entire prefecture's tourism cultural products are concentrated here. Meanwhile, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has also cultivated and reserved a large number of outstanding cultural talents, giving rise to well-known singers and groups such as Rongzhong Erjia, Puba Jia, Zhaxi Nima, and the "Gaoyuanhong" female band. Influenced by the radiation of Jiuzhaigou performance development, tourism and cultural industries along the Nine-Circle Route and surrounding areas have shown strong momentum, producing outstanding cultural products such as "Legend of Wengcheng" and "Soul of Qiang."
(4) Ecological Benefits.
The performance industry is a smokeless industry, an ecological industry. Based on the modern ecological economy concept of "ecological economy, ecological economy," the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster actively leverages its own advantages to drive urban and rural scientific development, leading local residents to directly participate in cultural tourism and ecological construction, and sharing the huge dividends of mutual construction and prosperity. In 2016, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster employed over 1,000 performers and absorbed more than 1,700 workers from related local industries, greatly promoting local employment and green entrepreneurship, laying a solid foundation for the construction of Jiuzhaigou County's "Two Mountains" theory practice innovation base.
(5) Social Benefits.
The development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has enhanced the quality of Jiuzhaigou as a world-class tourist destination, showcasing its splendid ethnic culture to the world, and forging the brand of Jiuzhaigou performance cultural tourism. Visitors enjoy mountain and water scenery, observe human customs, and contemplate natural life, enriching their experience. On one hand, this greatly stimulates tourism consumption and extends the tourism industry chain. At the same time, the sense of ownership among all ethnic cadres and the masses, as well as their awareness of ethnic unity and progress, has been unprecedentedly strengthened. A consensus has been reached on loving hometown, protecting the environment, being connected as one Chinese nation, and seeking world peace. The moral quality and level of social civilization among the people have reached new heights. Jiuzhaigou has become a window for the world to see the reform, development, civilization, and prosperity of Tibetan areas.
Practices of Cultural Tourism Integration in Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster
"Government-led, market-oriented" is the guiding ideology for the development of Jiuzhaigou's tourism performance industry. The development history of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster fully reflects the institutional and systemic advantages of the "two hands" in China's national governance system to promote socio-economic development. The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster is becoming a key area and main carrier for integrated cultural and tourism development.
(1) Emancipating the Mind to Promote Reform.
In 2001, the Aba Prefecture People's Government issued the "Interim Measures for the Management of Commercial Literary and Art Performance Groups in Tourist Attractions" and "Classification and Rating Rules." The newly promulgated "Interim Management Measures" removed ownership restrictions on the subject qualifications of commercial performance units, stipulating that any domestic unit or individual could legally form performance units and engage in performance activities, breaking the identity barrier between state-owned and private performance markets. Multiple business entities were treated equally, leading to the vigorous development of the Jiuzhaigou performance market, achieving a transition from "tent performances" to "tent performances + stage art performances," forming a new tourism combination model of "scenic area + Tibetan and Qiang ethnic style evening party + ethnic song and dance banquet." This enriched the forms and content of performances, strengthened visitors' viewing and experiencing, and expanded the market and extension of tourism. All this provided a solid foundation and policy guarantee for the formation, development, and growth of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster.
(2) Industry Self-discipline to Promote Standardization.
In 2005, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Association was established, improving industry rules, optimizing the market environment, and achieving a transition from government supervision to a management model of "government supervision + industry self-discipline." In 2017, the performance consortium effectively integrated the programs and personnel resources of various performance teams, unified marketing of performance sessions and prices, breaking the situation where performance groups were "dominated" by travel agencies, drivers, and guides, and avoiding market chaos.
(3) Strong Alliance to Promote Development.
In April 2015, Songcheng Performance Development Co., Ltd., with rich industry experience and strong economic strength, invested 87 million yuan to acquire 60% equity of Jiuzhaigou County Rongzhong Erjia Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. through equity transfer and cash capital increase. The dual strong alliance established the "Songcheng·Jiuzhai Eternal Love" Art Troupe and Performance Center. The integration of high-quality resources, substantial improvement in software and hardware, collision of different cultures, colorful performance forms, and powerful expression of artistic tension made "Tibetan Mystery" and "Jiuzhai Eternal Love" flagships of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster, promoting differentiated and diversified existence of Jiuzhaigou performance repertoires and works, and bringing the development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster to a new level.
(4) Changing Concepts to Promote Innovation.
To support the integrated cultural and tourism development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster, cultural departments at the prefecture and county levels took the lead in innovating management concepts, transforming government functions, changing work styles, strengthening service awareness, eliminating department protectionism, industry protectionism, and regional protectionism, and actively guiding the performance market to transform and upgrade from primary industrial forms to advanced industrial forms. Various performance groups in Jiuzhaigou also actively changed production and management concepts, boldly innovated, promoted new creation and production in the performance market, and created masterpieces such as "The Magic Jiuzhaigou," "Tibetan Mystery," and "Jiuzhai Eternal Love." In internal operation and management, performance groups explored market operation methods such as identifying creators for repertoires, studios, and pricing and converting shares. They focused on building marketing mechanisms for tourism source markets, assigning dedicated personnel for marketing. While doing stage art well, they worked hard on the development and operation of stage art derivatives, better reflecting the benefits of art products. The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster continuously advanced and innovated in the integrated development of cultural tourism.
(5) Diversified Advancement to Promote Prosperity.
In 2014, Songcheng Performance Development Co., Ltd. entered Zhangzha Town, Jiuzhaigou. Songcheng Performance, taking Tibetan and Qiang culture as its soul, rooted in the historical soil of Aba, relying on Jiuzhaigou's stunning scenery, applying Songcheng's technology, and using the model of "one park + one show," replicated and expanded elsewhere, creating a tourism cultural complex that integrates cultural performances, characteristic streets, and technology experiences, fully displaying authentic Tibetan and Qiang culture, with a "time-travel" feel—"Jiuzhai Eternal Love." This once again ignited the tourism performance market and opened a new path for the development of Sichuan's tourism performance. Subsequently, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster gradually formed a tiered performance structure with series repertoires like "Tibetan Mystery" and "Jiuzhai Eternal Love" as the tip, ethnic song and dance performances by performance groups as the middle, and grassroots public performances as the base, meeting the cultural appreciation and experience needs of different levels of visitors. Currently, as a national cultural industry demonstration base, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has 6 first-class performance groups, 3 second-class groups, and 1 third-class group. Rich and diverse tourism culture performance activities have become an important part of cultural and tourism consumption across the prefecture, and also a highlight of the cultural and tourism "night economy." The Jiuzhaigou performance market is thriving.
Experience of Cultural Tourism Integration in Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster
Over the past 20 years, with the joint efforts of central, provincial, prefectural, and county governments, cultural and tourism authorities at all levels, and performance groups, Jiuzhaigou's performance teams have grown from nothing, from solitary struggles to cluster development, from single performance to comprehensive extension, from self-development to radiating surrounding areas. Through arduous efforts and relentless pursuit, they have experienced growing pains, broken through bottlenecks, and accumulated valuable experience, providing reference and inspiration for integrated cultural and tourism development.
Government Guidance, Policy Support
First, strengthen policy support.
Jiuzhaigou, with its extremely beautiful natural scenery and unique ethnic customs, has natural advantages for developing tourism performance industry. The Aba Prefecture Party Committee and Government assessed the situation and issued a series of documents to strongly support the development of Jiuzhaigou's performance industry. The Jiuzhaigou County Party Committee and Government planned and released a series of measures and plans to promote integrated cultural and tourism development, clarifying the thinking for the development of Jiuzhaigou's tourism performance. The policies, measures, and institutional mechanisms supporting the healthy and orderly development of performances effectively promoted the implementation of various tasks for tourism performance development.
Second, create differentiated products.
In 1994, Jiuzhaigou's performance market entered a government-led stage of specialization and industrialization. With the support and guidance of governments at all levels and relevant departments, Jiuzhaigou's performance teams rooted in the soil of ethnic culture, fully excavated the "genes" of Tibetan and Qiang culture, innovated ethnic characteristic performance programs, and created unique performance products with prominent ethnic and regional characteristics, distinct from the content and form of national performance products. At the same time, the government made great efforts to cultivate performance product brands. For example, the Tibetan ethnic original ecological song and dance "Tibetan Mystery," jointly created by Rongzhong Erjia and Yang Liping, became the essence of Jiuzhaigou's performance products with its unique cultural nature and high-quality brand, generating substantial cultural and economic benefits.
Third, cultivate excellent enterprises.
Governments and relevant departments at all levels planned ahead and set about building a standardized performance market. First, survival of the fittest, eliminating the rough and keeping the refined. Through market selection and resource integration, 30 performance groups were consolidated into 10, transforming performance teams from disorderly development to standardized operation, from vicious competition to collaborative cooperation, ensuring standardized operation and healthy development of each tourism performance enterprise. Second, strengthen the overall linkage of performance enterprises, effectively regulate the source market, strengthen industry self-discipline, reasonably allocate source markets according to the capacity and service capability of performance venues, forming a benign interaction between the performance cluster and the source market, avoiding robbing customers. Launch performance repertoires with differentiation and specialization, ensure performance quality with diverse and rich programs, effectively regulate the product supply of the performance cluster, avoiding cheating customers. Promote the integration and rational allocation of performance resources, support the innovation and transformation of performance programs, ensure that what is presented to visitors are excellent works, and ensure the market is genuine and fair, avoiding deceiving customers.
Internal Reform and External Introduction, Transformation and Upgrading
First, market-oriented, focusing on supply-side reform.
In 2015, the revised "Jiuzhaigou County Commercial Performance Group Association Charter" was issued, based on the market and in line with development, fully leveraging the role of the market in the allocation of cultural tourism resources, fully mobilizing the enthusiasm of all sectors of society, strengthening the status of various tourism performance business entities, and supporting various literary and art troupes, performance production institutions, performance intermediary institutions, and performance venues to participate in tourism performance projects in multiple forms. Promote supply-side reform of the tourism performance market and boost the prosperity of the tourism performance market.
Second, recruit talents and gather cultural and artistic elites.
The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster fully utilizes Jiuzhaigou's brand as a World Heritage site and best tourist destination, actively seeks government and policy support, and vigorously attracts renowned artists and creative talents to join the Jiuzhaigou performance cluster. Yang Liping served as the chief director and artistic director of "Tibetan Mystery." Combined with the implementation of national, provincial, and prefectural talent projects, relying on various state-owned and private literary and art troupes, cultural and tourism training bases within the prefecture, a group of professional talents in creation, performance, stage design, operation management, and marketing were cultivated.
Third, strengthen alliances to build the Jiuzhaigou performance aircraft carrier.
In the development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster, governments and functional departments at all levels strengthened capital introduction, talent introduction, and concept introduction. In 2014, Songcheng Performance Development Co., Ltd. was introduced to enter Zhangzha Town, creating a high-level, multi-experience tourism cultural theme park. The immersive "5D" technology and ethnic style were organically integrated to produce the exquisite repertoire "Jiuzhai Eternal Love." In April 2015, Jiuzhai Eternal Love Tourism Development Co., Ltd. and Jiuzhaigou County Rongzhong Erjia Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. signed a strategic investment agreement, joining high-quality resources to further promote the higher and better development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster.
Comprehensive Development, Shared Construction
First, break industry barriers, focus on resource transformation.
The rapid development of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster benefits from the development of the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, the diverse and colorful ethnic culture of Aba Prefecture, the booming tourism market, and the support of the modern service industry system. The Jiuzhaigou Performance Cluster attaches importance to social benefits, bases itself on Aba's characteristic cultural resources, transforms cultural resource advantages into industrial advantages, effectively protects and rationally utilizes characteristic cultural resources, significantly increases the output value of characteristic cultural industries, greatly improves employment absorption capacity, and enriches products and services.
Second, expand regional radiation to drive performance development.
The rapid rise and growth of the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster cannot be separated from the development of tourism, culture, transportation, and services along the Nine-Circle Route. The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster actively expands the performance market, promotes excellent repertoires through methods such as "residency + touring" to increase visibility and influence, drives and influences regional development, achieves dual growth in performance channels and revenue, and achieves double harvests in social and economic benefits.
Third, adhere to shared construction and shared benefits to build an industrial system.
The concentration and dispersal of people in Zhangzha Town mean rapid exchange of logistics, capital, etc. To truly maximize the effect of population concentration, relying solely on the performance industry cluster is not enough. During its development, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has always adhered to shared construction, shared benefits, benefiting the people, tailored multiple tourism performance programs with local characteristics, actively carried out various forms of tourism performance activities, and absorbed local residents to participate in operation services. A large number of Tibetan and Qiang residents with artistic talents participated in various performance activities, greatly promoting the protection and promotion of regional traditional culture, making significant contributions to the inheritance of Tibetan and Qiang culture and the development of cultural industries.
From performance groups to performance consortia to performance industry clusters, the Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. Although the development has not been smooth sailing—especially the "8.8" Jiuzhaigou earthquake which severely damaged the performance industry cluster—we have reason to believe that Jiuzhaigou and its performance industry cluster, reborn from the ashes, will present even more beautiful Aba scenery and ethnic culture to the world in a brand-new posture. The Jiuzhaigou Performance Industry Cluster is striding forward as a model of national cultural tourism integration and development!
