Did you apply too much force?, Spending 7.15 million yuan to build a sculpture of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Lushan County | Sculpture | Cowherd and Weaver Girl
According to Jimu News, recently, some netizens complained that Lushan County, Pingdingshan, Henan Province spent more than 7 million yuan to build a landmark sculpture of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, which is suspected to be too expensive. On August 25th, the reporter verified that the sculpture won a bid price of 7.152 million yuan. The Housing and Construction Bureau of Lushan County responded that the bidding and construction of the sculpture conforms to the process, and any doubts can be raised to the audit department.
In fact, for expensive landmarks like this, on the one hand, it is a question of whether the bidding construction complies with the procedures and regulations, and on the other hand, it is the cost-effectiveness for local development. From the perspective of the whole country, at present, many places in many provinces call themselves the "birthplace of Qixi Festival". Is it the best choice for Lushan County to build a sculpture to attract huge traffic, develop tourism economy and build a "Niulang and Zhinv" IP? Note that the Cowherd and Weaver Girl are just folk legends, and it is difficult to determine their authenticity. In reality, many places claim to have so-called "relics", and it is also difficult to verify their authenticity. Have you invested too much in a true and illusory legend?
Promoting local tourism certainly requires investment, but it must be based on the principle of "doing the best with the least amount of money". According to data, in 2022, the gross domestic product of Lushan County reached 20.4 billion yuan, and the per capita disposable income of residents in the county exceeded 20000 yuan. Since 2018, the winning bidder has won three sculpture projects in Lushan County, with an amount of 9.67 million yuan. As the local people questioned, "Lushan County will exit from the poverty county list in February 2020. Is it necessary to spend more than one million yuan to build a statue before exiting? Is it necessary to spend millions of yuan to build a statue of many people roast after exiting? Can't this more than nine million yuan be used for cutting edges?"
In recent years, some underdeveloped areas have been enthusiastic about "creating highlights" and "building storefronts", so they have been repeatedly criticized for being "flashy but not practical", engaging in "image engineering" and "political achievement engineering". Not long ago, CCTV exposed that Yuzhong, a poverty-stricken county in Gansu Province with less than 500000 people, borrowed 952 million yuan to build a huge and luxurious public park.
At present, the public's tourism concept is shifting from focusing on sightseeing to balancing sightseeing and leisure vacation, and from a single experience to a fusion experience. Since the beginning of this year, the recovery momentum of domestic cultural and tourism has been remarkable, which is inseparable from the increasingly diverse cultural and tourism experience scenarios and richer consumer choices. Hongmiao Village in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, has almost no tourism resources, but the mining caf é has been open for over a year and has earned millions of yuan; Zibo's hospitable spirit and hardcore service have helped "Zibo Barbecue" gain popularity; The "Village BA" and "Village Super" in Guizhou have become popular, and the secret is to transform advantages into advantages. "The people say good is really good"... These situations have little to do with government investment, but are closely related to the development of local culture and tourism. As some scholars have said, "Culture is not a solidified sculpture, but a flowing water. However, the direction in which water flows is closely related to the practical needs of reality and social systems."
It is worth noting that in some underdeveloped areas, creating highlights and building storefronts does not truly conform to the process. Taking the sculpture of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl mentioned above as an example, according to a report by Guizhou Radio and Television, when the reporter wanted to further interview, local staff in Lushan burst into foul language; The sculpture designer Ma claimed to be the Executive Director of the China Urban Sculpture Construction Research Institute and the Executive President of the China Cultural and Economic Promotion Association. However, the China Urban Sculpture Construction Research Institute does not have any business registration information, and the China Cultural and Economic Promotion Association has not registered with the civil affairs department. Is this situation normal? Is there anything unknown behind it?
For some places, the development of cultural and tourism ideas and related regulatory mechanisms may be the most serious "sculpture".
