Practice Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thoughts
Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau show that in 2023, Beijing held a total of 49,524 commercial performances, with 11.385 million viewers and box office revenue of 2.304 billion yuan, both reaching record highs. While the performing arts market is recovering strongly, the in-depth integration of culture and tourism has become a highlight of the year, and "traveling to a city for a performance" has become a new trend.
"If you don't visit Beijing, you are not a hero."
Beijing has always been the target city for performances by various literary and art troupes, and it is also the first choice site for celebrity concerts.
As the national cultural center, Beijing has the country's first-class performance resources. "You are not a hero if you have not been to Beijing." Many performers and celebrity artists regard Beijing as a touchstone for performances, and regard successful performances in Beijing as the highest recognition. Xiao Fei, a senior music director who has planned many large-scale performances, said that Beijing has the most concentrated and authoritative cultural industries and art institutions, as well as a large number of media resources. “The National Theater of China, the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Conservatory of Music... Beijing has gathered the country’s top art troupes, schools and artists; major newspapers, magazines and online media have set up headquarters or branches in Beijing; a large number of Film and television production companies and record companies have cultivated a large number of acting talents... These powerful resources provide actors with more job opportunities, work resources, exposure opportunities and publicity channels. "
Beijing is also a cornucopia of major concerts. For a long time, Beijing's performance market has accounted for about one-tenth of the country's total in terms of performances and audiences. The considerable box office and audience numbers have made more organizers willing to arrange the premiere of the show in Beijing. Taking the Cadillac Center in western Beijing as an example, a total of about 72 large-scale cultural and sports events will be held in 2023 - including 44 concerts, with a premiere rate of 32%, and consecutive concerts accounting for 57%; during the summer The 11 family shows on stage at equal time slots had a premiere rate of 67%. Mr. Yan, a senior performance planner at
, said in an interview with a Beijing Youth Daily reporter that although concerts in Beijing may face more stringent approvals than other domestic cities and the cost of concerts in Beijing may be relatively high, in fact Beijing is still a A cornucopia of big concerts—compared to other cities, Beijing’s performance market still has unique advantages.
Favorable policies have been introduced frequently.
Faced with the huge demand for performances released by the audience, Beijing took targeted measures in 2023 and achieved good results.
speeds up approvals. The "Time Flows" Laolang Beijing concert on March 26, 2023 was the first large-scale concert held in Beijing after the epidemic subsided. The chief planner of the concert, Yuan Tao, told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that all the approval documents required for this concert were successfully obtained in just 10 days, and the approval time was significantly shortened than before. “The competent authorities also hope that the performance market can recover as soon as possible. For large-scale The performance has an encouraging attitude.” Coincidentally, it only took 10 days to complete the entire process from application to approval for the Gergiev performance at the National Center for the Performing Arts at the end of March.
optimizes the performance approval process. In 2023, Beijing's cultural and tourism departments at the municipal and district levels launched a series of convenience measures to improve the convenience of services. These measures include: launching a pre-review service for performance repertoires to give performance organizers a "reassurance" in advance, laying a foundation for subsequent performance project operations; implementing full online and postal delivery services, so that application unit staff can be online without running around Submit an application, obtain review opinions, submit supplementary certification materials, and obtain performance approval. The timely introduction of the
policy achieved immediate results. Since the first concert started at the end of March 2023, there have been an average of concerts every week in Beijing throughout the year. Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism show that from January to October 2023, the number of various commercial performance activities approved by Beijing's cultural and tourism administrative departments at the municipal and district levels has exceeded that of the whole of 2019, an increase of 31%. In 2023, Beijing held a total of 49,524 commercial performances, with 11.385 million viewers and box office revenue of 2.304 billion yuan, both reaching record highs.
uses culture to promote tourism in both directions.
's weekly celebrity concerts attract a large number of cross-city consumers to watch the performances, driving an overall increase in peripheral consumption such as tourism, transportation, accommodation, and catering.The "2023 China "Performance + Tourism" Consumption Trend Report" shows that Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Changsha are popular cities where young people "go to" more - among the audience of well-known singers such as Ren Xianqi and Liu Ruoying's Beijing concerts, across The proportion of people attending performances in the city exceeded 40%; during the Mayday Beijing concert, the number of accommodation reservations in Beijing increased by about 300% compared with the same period in 2019, of which the number of accommodation reservations within 5 kilometers of the "Bird's Nest" surged by 2,400%. All these show that "going to a city for a performance" is actually performed in Beijing.
data shows that the huge demand for performances and the superposition of multiple favorable policies will make the Beijing performance market in 2023 a two-way rush to promote tourism through culture and highlight culture through tourism. During the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, Beijing received 11.879 million tourists, an increase of 12.9% over 2019. During this period, Beijing's offline commercial performances attracted a total of about 550,000 viewers and generated box office revenue of 90 million yuan - an increase of 71.5% and 51.1% respectively compared with the same period in 2019.
The performance market is promising.
Industry insiders believe that Beijing’s concert economy is expected to continue to maintain a good momentum of development in 2024, and diversification of performances will become a trend. For example, in 2023, the abundant supply of Beijing’s performance market will not only be reflected in concerts, but also dramas. , children's dramas, concerts, circus acrobatics and magic and other types of performances also have more than 100 performances; for example, in 2023, panoramic immersive performances will become a trend and are sought after by audiences, such as "True Detective Zhao Goose" staged at 77 Theater It has become a phenomenon-level work in the capital's performing arts market in 2023. It has performed in Beijing for 125 times, with an average attendance rate of 98%. During the national tour, it has added performances many times in Nanjing, Tianjin and other places, and has been warmly welcomed by the audience. Xiao Fei, a senior music director who has planned many large-scale performances at
, said in an interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily, "Performances are entertainment activities that can make people's lives more pleasurable and have a higher happiness index. Beijing's economic development level ranks among the top in the country. Beijing citizens’ pursuit of a better life will further boost the prosperity of the performance economy.”
Kan Lu, performance planner of the Taihu Stage Art Center of the National Center for the Performing Arts, also believes that in 2024, Beijing’s cultural market should see more masterpieces and its aesthetic standards will improve. Come higher and higher. "Performances and the market are in a mutually reinforcing relationship. People's growing demand for superstructures will also stimulate the production of more good performances." Kan Lu said, "As far as the National Center for the Performing Arts is concerned, the market gains in 2023 will still be It’s relatively rich. In 2024, we will focus on polishing our own repertoire, launching literary and artistic works with oriental colors and representing the Chinese spirit, and telling Chinese stories that only Chinese people can tell.”
In 2023, we will “strive to create a ‘Performing City’” for the first time. It was written into the work report of the Beijing Municipal Government; in 2024, "increasing efforts in the construction of the 'Performing City'" was also written into the government work report - from focusing on efforts to increasing efforts, reflecting the increase in intensity. In this regard, senior media person Chen Yue believes that Beijing has been committed to building a national cultural center, and the introduction of more policies will further strengthen the unique advantages and uniqueness of Beijing's performance market. It can be said that Beijing’s performance market has great potential.
Text/reporter Shou Penghuan, intern Wang Jiayi
coordinator/Liu Jianghua
