Xi'an's cultural and tourism industry does not rely on TFBOYS. The overnight audience of "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" is 7500 people, and the daily passenger flow of the Tang Dynasty Never Nights City is 300000. Huaqing Palace | Project | Tang Dynasty
Under the Wild Goose Pagoda, people waiting to climb the tower form a long queue; The city of Tang Dynasty, which forms the corresponding axis with the Wild Goose Pagoda, is full of people from morning till night; Next to the Tang Dynasty Never Nights City is the newly upgraded and renovated immersive project "Chang'an Twelve Hours Theme Block", where tourists wearing Tang Dynasty costumes can check in here
This is a scene seen by a journalist from First Financial News during a recent on-site investigation in Xi'an. On August 6th, a TFBOYS concert was held at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center Stadium. According to Xi'an, the total order volume of Xi'an travel increased by 738% year-on-year before and after the performance, directly driving tourism revenue of 416 million yuan.
So is the popularity of Xi'an tourism driven by TFBOYS? Undoubtedly, celebrity concerts will definitely have a certain driving effect, but the popularity of Xi'an's cultural and tourism industry has its own reasons. Public information shows that the current daily passenger flow of Datang Night City is 300000 people; And Huaqing Palace's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" can accommodate 7500 viewers in three performances overnight, and the performances are fully booked until early morning; The Shaanxi History Museum seems to be "never available for appointment" and is extremely popular.
These are all related to Xi'an's integration of history and culture with performing arts, night economy, online promotion, etc. Of course, excessive tourism in Xi'an also poses challenges, such as tourist experience and safety assurance.
Showcasing the "flourishing Tang culture" to the extreme
In Xi'an, the most historic scenic spots are the Terra Cotta Warriors, the ancient city wall of Xi'an and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Even in the high temperature of 40 degrees, there are still a continuous stream of tourists in these major scenic spots. The Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area received over 50000 visitors on the first day of the May Day holiday this year. The Terra Cotta Warriors are hard to find in the summer peak season. It takes a long time to make an appointment for tickets. According to tourists' feedback, there are far more tourists to the Terra Cotta Warriors than to the Terra Cotta Warriors. It is simply a crowding. I don't know whether I am visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors or tourists for a moment.
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is located in the core scenic area, within the Da Ci En Temple, adjacent to the Tang Dynasty Never Nights City. 30 minutes before its closure, a reporter from First Financial News entered the Da Ci En Temple and still saw a large number of tourists queuing up to check their tickets. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda can be climbed for a visit at an additional fee. The reporter saw that in the last few minutes near the deadline for climbing the tower, there were still a large number of tourists queuing up. The management personnel were very punctual and stopped the tourists from climbing the tower at the last moment, which many people were quite regretful.
Stepping out of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, facing directly is the Tang Dynasty Never Nights City, which is a long walking street with everything from dining, shopping, performances, and interaction. The Tang Dynasty Never Nights City strives to restore the overall architectural style, shops, interactive games, and other scenes of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. For example, the Tang Dynasty Secret Box Game allows tourists to step onto the stage, with actors playing the roles of "Li Bai" and "Du Fu", "Fang Xuanling" and "Du Ruhui", and attracts tourists through the form of knowledge quizzes. Unlike ordinary knowledge quizzes, the actors of the Tang Dynasty Secret Box will use humorous language and improvise performances, allowing the audience to learn through entertainment. The Shengtang Secret Box not only performs offline, but also spreads through Tiktok, Kwai and other network channels. Several actors will also carry out live broadcast and humorous video shooting, attracting many online and offline fans.
During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it was very inclusive of multiculturalism, so songs and dances with exotic charm such as Hu Xuan dance were also popular. In the Tang Dynasty's Never Night City, a reporter from First Financial News saw that Hu Xuan dance performances were almost every night. In the nearby Datang Furong Garden, Tang culture is vividly portrayed in terms of architecture, interactive project settings, and performing arts, such as the Ladies Hall and Tang Dynasty costume display.
In recent years, some film and television works, such as "Chang'an Twelve Hours" and "Chang'an 30000 Miles", have not only attracted a large number of viewers, but also boosted tourism in Xi'an. Just next to the Tang Dynasty Never Nights City is the immersive experience hall "Chang'an Twelve Hours Theme Block", which basically reproduces the plot scene and has a large number of real actors interacting and performing, as well as dining and games, making it very attractive.
Of course, there is also the Shaanxi History Museum that showcases historical and cultural heritage, which is basically hard to obtain with just one ticket. Although the museum is open for free, it requires an appointment to enter. First Financial reporters can make an appointment three days in advance, but it is almost impossible to make an appointment. According to its official platform, the earliest available date for booking is August 14th. Some tourists jokingly claim that the difficulty of booking tickets to the Shaanxi History Museum is comparable to grabbing tickets for a TFBOYS concert. Public information shows that since June this year, the daily average number of visitors to the Shaanxi History Museum has reached its maximum carrying capacity of 12000 people, making it one of the most popular museums in Xi'an and even Shaanxi region. Liu Li, Deputy Director of the Public Service Department of Shaanxi History Museum, told the media that during the summer vacation, an additional session will be added every Sunday afternoon to extend the opening time of the museum, and it will not close until 8 pm.
The night economy and the performing arts market are booming
In addition to the attraction of millennium old architecture and historical culture, Xi'an has made great efforts in the night economy and entertainment market. For example, Datang Night City. According to the introduction of the scenic area, since June this year, the daily passenger flow of Datang Night City has reached 300000 people. From 8pm to 11pm every night is the peak period for passenger flow.
A reporter from the First Financial News saw in the Tang Dynasty Never Nightly City that the lights were brightly lit at night, and tourists crowded one after another. If you want to watch popular performances such as the Tang Dynasty Secret Box, you must wait at least half an hour in advance. At around 10 o'clock in the evening, the pedestrian streets of Datang Night City are still bustling with activity, and tourists who go shopping, watch performances, dine, and shop remain enthusiastic.
The main factor driving Xi'an's night economy is actually entertainment. "If it's just a meal, then tourists will also go back after the meal, but there are many activities and performances in the evening here, and many tourists come to watch performances, which can prolong their travel time and increase many overnight guests." Zhao Huanyan, the chief knowledge expert of Huamei, analyzed.
In Xi'an, there are countless night tour projects, and many scenic spots have night performances, including the Datang Furong Garden, Datang Night City, Chang'an Twelve Hours Theme Block, Bailuyuan Film and Television City, etc. Among them, the most popular is Huaqing Palace's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", which is performed three times a night. The last performance ends in the early morning. "We are almost fully booked for every performance, with a capacity of 2500 spectators per performance, making it 7500 in one night. With the addition of daytime tourists, the number of people is very large. Moreover, nighttime performances have increased the number of overnight guests, and we also have hotels here for coordinated development," a staff member from Huaqing Palace told First Financial reporters.
Recently, the reporter also watched a "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", which was the second performance of the day. It started at 9:40 pm and lasted for about an hour. Tourists poured in at night, and the staff skillfully raised signs to guide everyone in their seats. The landscape scenery, lighting and dance performances of "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" are very good. After the performance, about 20 minutes of clearance, the next performance began in full swing. After checking through platforms such as Ctrip, the reporter found that tickets for "Chang Hen Ge" have been basically sold out from today until August 24th, with ticket prices ranging from 238 yuan to 588 yuan.
The Dongcang drum performance is one of the main promoted projects of the Datang Furong Garden. It is understood that Xi'an drum music flourished in the Tang Dynasty and spread in the Guanzhong Plain centered around the Tang capital Chang'an. It is a typical representative of traditional Chinese instrumental music culture. In 2006, Xi'an drum music was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, and in 2009, it was included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. There are only six existing hundred year old drum music societies in Xi'an, and Dongcang Drum Music Society is one of them.
"We have to perform 8 times a day, starting from the daytime. We are now part of the permanent cast team of Datang Furong Garden. We all follow the apprenticeship model, and most members have been studying for more than 10 years," Qi Xingfeng, the director of Dongcang Drum Music Society, told First Financial reporters. At the performance, the reporter saw the members of the Dongcang Drum Orchestra dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes. They knew the rules and regulations, played sheng, flute, and pipe, struck square boxes and double cloud gongs, and the sitting hall drums and war drums worked closely together. Also, due to such performances, the number of tourists to the scenic area has increased significantly.
In addition, at the White Deer Plain Film and Television City scenic area, various performances combining film and television themes, and immersive drama performances with audience participation and interaction, are also conducted from day to night, effectively extending the travel time of tourists.
Who made money?
The popularity of Xi'an tourism is not caused by one day. The ancient city wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Terra Cotta Warriors, etc. are all historic sites, while the Datang Sleepless City, Datang Furong Garden, Chang'an Twelve Hour, Bailuyuan Film and Television City, etc. are all projects created by cultural tourism investors.
Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Measures for Restoring and Expanding Consumption", which clearly proposes to promote the consumption of cultural and sports exhibitions, increase the supply of large-scale events such as drama festivals, music festivals, art festivals, animation festivals, and concerts. Xi'an has introduced multiple large-scale multicultural activities to enrich new forms of urban consumption.
Among them, tourism, hotels, catering, transportation, shopping, entertainment and other related industries have all benefited. From August 5th to 6th, a series of large-scale offline events such as TFBOYS Ten Year Promise Concert, ACC Animation and Game Exhibition, Deyun Society Xi'an Special Session, Horseshoe Music Festival, and 2023 LPL Summer Post Season Finals will be held in Xi'an. The latest data from Feizhu shows that in the past week, the number of hotel bookings in Xi'an from August 5th to August 6th has increased nearly 50 times compared to the same period last year. From August 5th to 6th, about 1000 planes flew to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, with an average ticket price of 1226 yuan for arriving in Xi'an, an increase of 10% compared to the previous week. The popularity of ticket search increased by nearly 20% compared to the previous weekend.
A reporter from First Financial News saw in Xi'an that some hotels have seen significant price increases, with mid-range hotels that were originally priced around 500 yuan per night reaching nearly 1000 yuan per night during the recent peak season.
During the peak summer season, the ancient city of Xi'an, which has a large number of tourists, has also welcomed many tourist groups. Reporters can see tour guides holding flags everywhere in many local attractions. "Since July until now, I have been busy with work every day and have hardly taken any rest. It was originally the peak summer season, and this is the first complete summer vacation in three years. There are a lot of family guests," said Xiao Wang, a local tour guide in Xi'an, to a reporter from First Financial News.
According to Tianyancha data, there are over 91000 tourism related enterprises in Xi'an. From 2013 to 2019, the number of related enterprises has been increasing year by year, reaching its peak in 2019. Over 29000 new registered related enterprises were added that year, with a growth rate of 89.9%; From 2020 to 2022, due to the impact of the epidemic, the number of related enterprises has decreased significantly compared to 2019. From 2020 to 2022, there were more than 6810 newly registered enterprises, more than 8040 newly registered enterprises, and more than 7570 newly registered enterprises. From the current data in 2023, as of early August, there were more than 6480 new related enterprises in Xi'an, an increase of 42.5% compared to the same period in 2022, indicating a clear recovery trend.
From several major tourist attractions, it can be seen that there are several large tourism companies involved, such as the White Deer Plain Film and Television City, Huaqing Palace, and the performance of "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow", which are under the Shaanxi Tourism Group. Its internal management told First Financial reporters that "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" is currently the highest quality part of its overall business. The performance has been going on for more than 10 years and has not been so popular before. However, the epidemic in recent years has temporarily suspended tourist travel, so this year's tourism recovery has seen a "explosive" development, which is also one of the reasons why "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" can accommodate 7500 viewers every night. "Of course, we also spend tens of millions of yuan annually to upgrade our overall performance, which is not a small investment, but the returns are also very good," said the above management.
According to the 2023 semi annual report of Shaanxi Tourism, the operating revenue during the period was 495 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 529.43%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non recurring gains and losses was 218 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 537.21%; Among them, Shaanxi Changhen Ge Performing Arts and Culture Co., Ltd. had a revenue of 280 million yuan and a net profit of 192 million yuan.
Behind Datang Night City and Datang Furong Garden is Qujiang Culture and Tourism. The company's 2023 semi annual report disclosed that its net profit has turned from loss to profit, and it is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to the parent company's owners of about 12.4 million yuan in the first half of 2023. The net profit attributable to the parent company's owners after deducting non recurring gains and losses is about 2.4 million yuan.
Behind Chang'an Twelve Hours is Shaanxi Cultural Industry Investment Holding Co., Ltd. In addition to the current tickets, the project also has internal cooperation in catering, clothing rental, and photography. The reporter from First Financial News saw on site that the project is mainly composed of tourists wearing Tang Dynasty costumes, and the cost of renting costumes and makeup for tourists ranges from over 100 to over 300 yuan. The photographer ranges from over 200 to over 300 yuan and chooses according to the needs of the guests themselves.
In terms of catering, these tourism projects all include various Xi'an cuisine, beverages, etc. A noodle vendor in Datang Furong Garden told First Financial reporters that they can sell over 200 bowls of noodles in a day. The juice vendor next door said they can sell over 400 servings of juice per day. On the pedestrian street of the Tang Dynasty's Never Nightly City, the numbers of similar restaurant operators have doubled.
The most interesting one is Haidilao, which recently launched the slogan "Free bus to take us to Haidilao for hot pot!" after various concerts. After many concerts, there are a group of Haidilao employees holding horns and light signs outside the venue, taking fans to Haidilao for a late night snack. It is understood that Xi'an, one of the most favored cities for this year's concert, was the city that was the first to test the use of water buses to pick up customers. Since May this year, Xi'an has welcomed the concerts of Zhang Xinzhe, Xu Wei, Jacky Xue, Ren Xianqi and other stars. In mid June, Haidilao from Xi'an Taibai Impression City tested the water and sent a car to pick up customers. On August 6th, Xi'an welcomed the TFBOYS "Ten Year Promise" concert again. Prior to the concert, the number of reservations for late night snacks at multiple Haidilao stores began to surge. The managers of Haidilao Impression City, Jingkai, and Bole stores all stated that fans had contacted the stores in advance to book reserved seats, and hundreds of fans came together after the performance.
In addition, there are many local cultural and creative products in Xi'an, such as the 20 yuan Big Wild Goose Pagoda ice cream and Tang figurine shaped figurines. "The tourism in Xi'an is driven by the Internet. From the little sister of the tumbler at the beginning to the secret box of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it is all driven by platforms such as Tiktok, which also has the help of officials and tourists. Even Dongcang drum music has been broadcast live. The millennium culture meets the modern Internet, and this ancient and modern sense of impact has attracted a large wave of fans." Wei Changren, founder of Jinlv. com, analyzed.
Of course, there are also issues behind the popularity. For example, having too many tourists can compromise the experience and increase the difficulty in ensuring safety. While night tours, performances, and concerts are in full swing, scalpers are also non-standard ticket scalpers, and TFBOYS concert tickets are being sold at sky high prices. According to monitoring statistics, the Shaanxi History Museum currently has over 600000 daily ticket reservations and clicks, but only 12000 visitors have been able to make successful reservations and enter the museum, which is seriously in short supply. The Shaanxi History Museum stated that the museum has become a "heavy disaster area" invaded by "scalpers" and "black guides", and normal work order has been seriously disrupted. Recently, Shaanxi Province is also cracking down severely on illegal organizations and individuals who bundle or resell scenic spot tickets at high prices, and seriously rectifying the order of the tourism market.
