This year's June 11 marks the 11th Cultural Heritage Day in China, with the theme of “bringing new life to cultural heritage.” A series of celebration activities were held in Tianjin. The city has collected precious pictures and artifacts relating to the local industrial heritage, then held an exhibition and produced a 10-minutes documentary named "Glory of the Past — Tianjin Industrial Heritage." Performances sucn as anshoumen kungfu, Shanyin Drum and Xingyi Five-Element boxing were staged to show Tianjin's achievements in protecting intangible cultural heritages.

In recent years, the cultural heritage protection departments strive to explore the value of traditional culture in an effort to revive the city’s past glory. These efforts paid off as they help boost local morale while promoting the core socialist values.

In the Dragon Boat Festival holiday this June, Tianjin's tourist destinations received 1.66 million domestic and foreign tourists, an increase of 10.7 percent year on year; total tourism revenues reached 75.1 million yuan, up 13.2 percent year on year. Cultural tourism and cultural consumption were booming. Tianjin's tourism authorities launched nearly 30 unique activities, which created a festive environment for locals and the tourists.

During the festival periods, Tianjin's cultural center is a major attraction for visitors, as it offers a good place where people can enjoy the cool air during the hot summer times, learn knowledge and gain valuable experiences. The second Jing-Jin-Ji area intangible cultural heritage exhibition was held in the center with the theme of "intangible cultural heritage and modern life." This exhibition was a part of Dragon Boat Festival celebration, attracting tens of thousands of tourists. During the holidays, Wudadao or the Fifth Avenue, the famous cultural and historical street, and Minyuan Square became tourist magnets. The cultural photography exhibition helped further invigorated the center by receiving more than 30,000 tourists every day.

Balance demand and supply

"The performances were so exciting! These actors used to be very reserved on the stage. But this time, they interpret the classics in a brand new format, and I never thought they could be so devoted in the play." Recently, the ethnic music concert Classic Rhyme in Modern Style by Tianjin Song and Dance Theater 80·90 Orchestra was held successfully in the Tianjin Concert Hall. After the concert, many people were reluctant to leave, still recalling every little bit of the concert.

The success of the performance reflects people's desire for good literary works. The notion that “art doesn't have a market” is incorrect, while in fact, every performer needs to pitch in and make better concerts available for everyone. In the meantime, the government must be fully aware of what its people want the most before rushing into a decision.

For so many years, Tianjin Song and Dance Theatre has created outstanding, popular and entertaining works with contemporary aesthetics. Gao Jiulin, President of the theatre, said, "Development can only be achieved through innovation. Today, I'm very glad to see that the young performers in our national orchestra offer a concert that appeals to all. Only through innovations, literary and artistic works can be enjoyed by the audience, and our literature and art can flourish and develop."

Providing better cultural products

"The public cultural service system should be improved after the country achieves overall prosperity. Then it would be able to provide the audience with more and better cultural products in the process of achieving cultural prosperity." As a professional exhibition hall, Tianjin Art Museum not only needs to upgrade the overall aesthetics level in Tianjin, but is also responsible for the public aesthetic education. Deputy Director of the museum Lu Yongxiu knows deeply that the buck stops here, "We need real professionals to teach the public about aesthetics, and the people should also actively participate in the activities so as to explore their full potentials."

In over four years after opening, the museum has held hundreds of exhibitions. The 2014 National Art Exhibition and the fourth national oil painting exhibition China Spirit were held at the Tianjin Art Museum. Meanwhile, with the financial support of the municipal government, Tianjin Art Museum introduces high-end exhibitions every year. Annual visitors to the museum can reach 600,000 to 800,000.

A new exhibition is expected to be launched every week, with 15,000 visitors each week. The quantity and quality have all been improved. More people begin to appreciate art through regularly going to professional and high-end art exhibitions. They also choose to go to the galleries, museums, the Grand Theater in holidays to feel the art with their hearts.

Cultural innovation is strongly backed by policy. In 2015, Tianjin published the Suggestions on the Implementation of Accelerating the Construction of Modern Public Cultural Service System. In 2016, Tianjin will formulate the Suggestions on the Implementation of Promoting the Comprehensive Construction of People’s Cultural Service Center . At the same time, Tianjin will integrate the existing city-level public cultural activities into future plans to create a better environment for cultural consumption.

A bigger picture of education

During this year's Spring Festival, Zhao Gang, Vice Director of Calligraphy Department of Tianjin Youth Activity Center, led a group of students to study in the Chinese Taiwan. Zhao was very impressed by Juming Museum and Taipei National Palace Museum, "When the students saw a series of works of Living World in Juming Museum and the Carved Ivory Balls in the Taipei National Palace Museum, they have different feelings. A junior high school student told me that it took precious materials and two generations of artists to create such ivory balls but the efforts were completely meaningless. But Living World series use readily available materials and were vivid representation of people’s various emotions and he said they were more pragmatic and realistic.”

Zhao has always been a supporter of “classrooms without walls." He believes that "the classroom is a place for summary and communication.” But more importantly, the students need to go out and have a touch with nature. “The more they read classics, the more they talk to well-educated people, the more they will be positively influenced.”

"It is very important to cultivate children's aesthetics, and it is written in our mission statement. When we talk about quality education, the first step is art education. Let the children learn to appreciate. The ability to appreciate is much more important than mastering the skills. The function of art museum is essential,” said Lu Yongxiu.

Policy support

"Tianjin is a city of culture. Local residents have a high demand for literature and arts and have a good taste. There were not so many performances in the past, so they would gather and listen to the radio. The launch of the Culture Card really benefits the citizens, serving as a very important tool to facilitate cultural education. Now, it is very convenient for us to listen to the musicals and watch dramas,” said Chen, a retired teacher who was one of the first few people buying the Culture Card. She once spent 1,000 yuan to buy a ticket for Cai Qin's concert. With this card, she can spend less money to watch her favorite performances.

You can spend only 10 yuan to watch performances that may cost a few hundred yuan. If you recharge 100 yuan in your card, the government will subsidize 400 yuan. More people have been willing to go to concerts and plays. In 2016, Tianjin issued a total of 100,000 Culture Cards. The vigorous demand of the card shows local people's enthusiasm for good-quality shows and performances.

A small Culture Card has brought fundamental changes to the performance market in Tianjin. "Don’t underestimate this small card. It injects positive energy to the society where everyone could benefit,” said Chen.