The golden panda award celebrates cinematic excellence.
Film and tv awards as such have a real-life effect even after the curtain falls in china.
Today, films aren't just cultural products.
They are economic engines.
They are travel guides and even passports to international cultural exchange.
Today, we discuss the impact that films can have on the tourism industry.
We are live from Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm Steve.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
And for the show, I'm joined by Yushun and Yunqi.
First on the program.
Beyond the spotlight and the celebration of artistic achievement, events like the Golden Panda Awards generate a profound and lasting impact.
In the contemporary Chinese context, the role of cinema has dramatically expanded.
It is no longer confined to being a mere cultural artifact.
Films and TV series now function as powerful catalysts for economic activity, dynamic engines for tourism and vital instruments of global dialogue.
They possess the unique ability to showcase a nation's landscapes and heritage, inspiring both domestic and international audiences to personally explore the locations depicted on screen.
This phenomenon drives significant revenue for local businesses.
It revitalizes interests in cultural sites and beyond that, by conveying stories that resonate across borders, these productions serve as a bridge, fostering mutual understanding and inviting the world to engage with China's rich and diverse culture in a deeply authentic way.
It's true, isn't it, Yushun and Yunqi, that film and TV awards, like the Golden Panda Awards, they matter for both culture and tourism.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, first of all, the format of film.
They can always bring culture together and bring you another culture, I mean as an audience when you're watching it right.
And it will send you to a journey of That you can totally have immersive experience when the culture is showcased in this movie.
And just like this Golden Panda Awards or all of these film festivals, they can bring a bunch of not only domestic films but also international films to the moviegoers to have that kind of taste of international or global taste.
It allows you to travel to a place that you've never been before without leaving the comfort of a theater.
But hopefully, and we'll talk about it, you do leave the comfort of the theater.
Yeah.
And also when you have that kind of film festival in a specific city, like...
In this Golden Panda Awards, it takes place in Chengdu, right?
Pandas.
Yeah.
And they put these cities on the map.
I think it's called Cannes, right?
The Cannes Film Festival?
Yeah, Cannes Film Festival.
They also put that city on the map to let... a lot of tourists to go there and experience the city.
And as well, I think, in Chengdu, people are also invited, welcomingly invited, to the city to experience the local culture, the local dialect, the local cuisine and everything.
Yeah, I got to say this film festival or these Golden Panda Awards is really quite different from how I used to anticipate what comes out of a film festival, because I would expect a whole bunch of experts, film critics.
They just sit there very seriously and judge a film and give it critics but what's what?
That is also part of it.
Yeah yeah, it is all it is part of it.
But i think there's one thing that stands out from this golden panda awards is that they're really tying together cinema food, travel and consumer benefits, because what they're doing in this golden panda awards in Sichuan is that, starting from August this year through December, the very end, So every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10 am, citizens in Chengdu.
They can claim free tickets, buy one, get one vouchers and discount coupons every weekend.
So that really lowers the price. for moviegoers.
I'm laughing because it's one of the first Chinese expressions I learned.
买送吗?
Every shop I go to, I ask.
So that also takes place in this film festival as well.
And then they're also offering apparently 6 million yuan, and that's roughly 900000 US dollars worth of vouchers across China.
100000 Sichuan businesses, and that's not only just the movie theaters, but also some other businesses like restaurants.
Yeah, so that links the movie culture with the region's businesses, the food, the shopping, everything tied in together.
It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while you might get a bit hungry or particularly interested in the food from a movie.
Absolutely, yeah.
Especially if there's food on the screen, it makes you want to eat after the movie, too.
Like a bite of China.
That's a documentary, though.
That's a good title.
That's a documentary, though.
The festival is interactive.
They reward participants with digital avatars.
They have meal packages.
They've created a playful kind of crossover between...
The film, the culture, the lifestyle and all of those things together.
And they've even taken it as far as to launch 14 what they're calling film plus tourism routes.
Yeah, they have a lot of these routes offering and giving you recommendations on.
Have a very fun journey into that province, Sichuan province.
So some historical heritage tours connect places like Deng Xiaoping's hometown with related film narratives.
Okay, so it's in Sichuan, I never knew that.
Yeah, also mythology-inspired routes like Nezha, the mythology character, right?
Rebirth Journey brings legends to life in Jiuzhaigou and Qingcheng Mountain.
Jiuzhaigou is a very, very beautiful, natural scenery.
And that is actually one of my bucket lists to visit.
Oh, really?
You haven't been there yet?
No, but I've always been wanting to visit there.
And The water is crystal clear.
You can actually see the bottom of it.
I don't normally recommend too many tourist spots, but that's one of the few places that I have personally been to and it's highly recommended.
But one thing to take from here is that perhaps be prepared for the high altitude in that region.
Also, Qingchengshan, it's also another birthplace of another legend of the white snake.
This is also quite famous Chinese mythology.
So other highlights ancient Shu culture at Sanxingdui, which is an archaeological site with Bronze Age culture.
Also, panda ecology, Qinghai-Sizang Plateau photography can take massive photos.
I mean, magnificent pictures there.
And even script-based role-play kind of games you can play in the historical towns in some areas.
Oh, that would be fun.
So you get to dress up as a character.
Yeah, and play the roles yourself.
Oh, how fun.
And so it's not just yeah, I mean, of course, the Golden Panda Awards are all about the films and recognizing the directors and the actors and the stories being told.
But this is more of a cultural bridge.
And I think, when I said that in the beginning, what I had in mind and of course it's true is about the international bridge right.
Where you can introduce China, introduce parts of the country through film to people who have never been here before.
But I think this obviously works on a local level, too, where you get to visit places.
Like you said, it's on your bucket list of places to go, that mountain area.
So this is really great for domestic fans of film plus tourism too.
And that does not necessarily only apply to where these film festivals are taking place in Sichuan province.
Because after that animation film Nezha that went viral extremely popular, there are plenty provinces across China that are claiming Nezha.
They have a tourist spot where they're from that are related to that animation, because at least I know that there is such a place in Guangxi as well, and perhaps even more.
So not just Sichuan and Guangxi.
So there are these tourist attractions that are getting traction and getting into the spotlight because of the popularity of a movie.
That's pretty cool though, and it makes sense that regions are trying to claim their stake to the popularity of mythology.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yes, this is in Sichuan, right?
But besides the culture of Sichuan and immersing yourself in it there...
In recent years, movie locations in different parts of China have become popular travel destinations from Hengdian Jinhua City in Zhejiang Province.
That's kind of like a...
Like a filmmaking place, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Kind of like a Hollywood?
Hollywood studio with a huge set as the size of a city, to be honest.
Yeah.
So you've got that, then you've got the sites featured in Detective Chinatown 1900.
That would be another example.
What are some of the standouts where films have directly boosted local tourism?
First of all, in ruins in central China's Henan Province, it is...
Actually, a shooting place of the blockbuster Creation of the Gods, Battle of Xiqi.
It is also quite famous and a popular movie.
I think last spring festival or this spring festival.
Right.
That's the reason one, I think.
Yeah.
Also, they have created a lot of other technologies and experience programs for tourists, not only to visit that exact place, but also having some VR headset to actually go to the battle scene, the Shan Dynasty battles, and blending film fantasy with historical heritage, which means you can not only enjoy the the thrill of playing the game, getting into the battle, but also learn some knowledge about the actual history.
Yeah, because I don't know how much attention a place like the Yin Ruins would receive on a yearly basis or a monthly basis.
I don't know.
But granted, it is a UNESCO site.
But at the same time, when a film comes out and kind of showcases it, then it brings a lot more attention and it brings a lot more tourists.
The museum for the ruins and the palace site...
It welcomed over 130,000 visitors during the spring festival.
So it matched up perfect.
I mean, it was perfect timing for the film to come out, right?
Because people had the free time to go out and explore those types of things.
Yeah, that's usually the period that we are seeing the highest box office in the whole year round.
And, just as we were speaking earlier, that several provinces they are trying to claim that they are related to this animation movie Nezha.
And then in this Henan province, they are seeing a tourism boom because of the relation to...
The Creation of Gods, too.
And there are more, of course, there are more movies on top of Nezha and The Creation of Gods.
For example, in Shandong province they are seeing 150000 visitors in just seven days because of their relation to the movie Detective Chinatown 1900.
I have to watch this movie. because I've heard about it so many times.
People just seem to kind of mention it sometimes.
Why is this movie so famous here in the country?
It's a series.
I have not seen it.
I have seen some of them.
It's probably the third episode of this movie series.
But they tell different stories in different cities.
And this one, they took place in Shandong province.
It's not the plot that took place in Shandong province.
But they film it in a studio, in the studio in Shandong province, and they actually created a whole set of Chinatown, actually in the scene of an In Tang Dynasty.
Okay, so a Chinatown that's actually in China.
Yeah.
Not in America or UK.
Yeah, right.
And that is why they are attracting a lot of fans of this movie or moviegoers to actually experience the scenes of this movie in this place.
How?
To get into the set.
Oh, to walk onto the set.
And just like the name of the movie itself, like Detective Chinatown.
So in that film studio in Shandong Province they offer a service where you can dress the trench coat and play the detective Liu Haoran himself.
So it's kind of like a role playing game.
And so that's in Shandong province and elsewhere in Inner Mongolia, the very northern part of China.
So they film on the grasslands of the film, the legend of the Condor Heroes, the great hero.
And so there are also tourists visiting Inner Mongolia, to the spot where the hero in the movie Guo Jing shot an eagle, which is actually the name of the Chinese novel.
And so the tourist number surged 15% during the Spring Festival.
And apart from these very particular special spots where the films were taken, Just cinemas all around the country are seeing a flush of tourists.
For example, in Guiyang, which is in southwest China's Guizhou province, the country's widest IMAX movie, Laser Hall, became a national sensation because of Nezha 2, and there's a 14 increase.
Actually, it's the 40 increase of the nearby hotel and food sales near these IMAX cinemas, thanks to the growing number of filmgoers.
Almost 130,000 people traveled.
There, the IMAX GT Laser Hall became the tourist attraction itself.
So was it the IMAX screen?
Was it the movie?
Was it a combination of the two?
Probably.
Just for the best viewing experience.
Yeah, but again, a 40 increase for food and hotel bookings is proof that it has a huge impact on tourism.
Harbin, too, right?
They have a record-breaking IMAX screen.
It turned into a landmark as well.
That's in the northwest part of the country.
And same situation there.
It attracted out-of-town tourists.
And the same situation again.
The theater linked up with local restaurants and theme parks to make it more of an inclusive space experience.
Sometimes we even call it like ticket economy.
You can get that movie ticket to the restaurant and having getting a discount yeah yeah exactly, which is just a great idea.
Then, in 2025 as well, there was an official campaign that rolled out travel with movies.
What was that about?
Yeah, it is more like you.
We have so many famous movies Already, and not only new movies, but also, like some very classic movies.
So a lot of these regions are inviting visitors to go to that specific city.
And then you can follow the route that the movies is listing, or they recommend some of the routes, just like just we said.
So you can go to that different cities and travel with the movie.
For example, what would an example be?
I was part of that campaign earlier this year around February March, where I went to the southern part of China.
I was in Guangxi province and then Guangdong province as well.
So Guangxi province, as I said earlier, so there's, I forgot the name of that, very interesting.
But it is related to the scene.
Actually, it's the place that inspired it.
It's the actual place that inspired the movie creators for the Nezha 2 cast to design the scene for Chen Tang Guan a very important place for the story.
There are visitors visiting Guangxi because of its connection to the Nezha movie.
Speaking of Nuja, again, I saw some video of some graffiti walls.
I don't think it's just in one part of the country.
I think they have them in various parts of the country.
It's almost everywhere.
Not only these scenic spots, but also in shopping malls.
It's not like illegal graffiti everywhere.
No, no.
It's like artist painting.
Yeah, it's not under a bridge.
Banksy.
It's more like Banksy.
Yeah, yeah.
It's really well done.
And when I was in Shenzhen, I actually found there's also such a graffiti.
Actually, more than one.
There were a couple of these, but I just chose one of them, perhaps the most popular nerja graffiti wall in shenzhen, and took a venezuelan influencer over there in like around four, five pm on a working day and they were already.
I wouldn't say it's packed.
Probably on a weekend, it'll be packed.
But 4 or 5 pm on a working day, there were already, I will say, like around 10 people three, four groups of people that were taking photos selfies, in front of the Nezha graffiti walls.
And that's actually...
When we talk about tourism, don't just think about you have to go to a different city or go across to a different province.
So for these graffiti walls there are people just from within Shenzhen.
They would go to maybe the other side of the town just to experience to these movie related elements.
And sometimes you don't even have to go to the other side of the town or the other side of the world, you can just put on a headset because virtual locations through VR or XR, to feel the charm of the locations that are depicted in the movies, like the ancient city of Xi'an, which was previously called Chang'an in the animated film Chang'an would be an example.
And on the topic of VR and XR experiences, our reporter Wang Yangyang spoke with Qiu Lin, a researcher from the Communication University of China and also a practitioner of virtual reality and media arts.
And they spoke about some insight on the application of technology through film in tourism.
So how do you see the connection between real film tourism and these new virtual film spaces?
For film locations and virtual worlds, I would say they are not competing.
Instead, they are complementary.
Real locations offer that tangible magic where you can walk there, you can touch there.
This is something where your favorite scenes could happen.
This magic is powerful, but for virtual reality, those spaces, they break down physical and financial barriers.
For example, not everyone can travel to Egypt, travel to pyramid, but VR could let us, from everywhere, to step into those world and to explore some parts that not easily access.
This is definitely like an infinite extension of the film world or the film sets.
So ideally, a great virtual reality experience would inspire someone eventually to visit the real space.
It's about expanding the universe of the film, the universe of a traveling destination, and offering different layers of the engagement from the audience.
Have you personally visited any VR film spaces?
Yes, for me.
For example, like there was a Virtual reality LBE, we see a location-based entertainment called the Great Qing has this virtual reality space can let anyone from different spaces to step into the Xi'an tourism destination?
So this offers a very great opportunity for the audience from all the age to visit qinling for a view site.
It can lead us into all the different hidden places where not accessible in reality, and also the buddha lagong, patola palace.
They have their virtual versions.
Virtual version worlds exist from that world.
You can not only walk through Patala Palace in one way, but also to meditating in there and to feel the connection between the nature and your inner world.
And also Longmen Shi Ku, Longmen Grottoes.
This is an upcoming new work that will be released very soon.
I can see this trend that all the famous travel destinations are creating their meta worlds that would host more audience from not actually coming there, physically being there, but travel virtually from anywhere.
Well speaking, breaking physical barriers.
If an international audience who is also curious about Chinese culture through films, I think he can use VR experiences to learn about China.
So in this way, what possibilities does movie-inspired VR experience open up for international travelers?
Instead, they come to China, we bring those destinations to their places.
For example, The Great Qin has their international exhibitions in Russia, I think, in last July.
By doing this, they are bringing this China culture to those locations.
In Russia, this kind of a VR XR large-scale exhibition usually takes place at some spaces over 500 square meters.
That would enable people to walk around and to be more present in the world, not just seeing that really walk into those virtual spaces.
So by doing this, this is a way to bring traveling destination to their world, to their space.
This kind of experience would sparkle the audience, their like desire of visiting the real place by themselves.
It does open a door, doesn't it?
It does open a door in a couple of different ways.
One, you might not have had any experience with those types of films before, but two a door to another part of the world that you would not normally have access to.
It's more like a teleport, like making you to another environment.
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
Well, movies in China, they've evolved into a new form of cultural consumption as well.
And one of the ways to get people into the theater is to decrease the price of tickets.
And they've done that in certain spots.
In Zhejiang.
The province launched more than 368 million yuan, that's about 5 million US dollars worth of movie vouchers, the highest in years.
And that meant ticket prices dropped to about 37 yuan, which is around 5 US dollars on average, down from 41 yuan last year.
And the result is from August 1st to 15th alone, Zhejiang's box office revenue hit 275 million yuan, up 86 year on year.
And that shows how Lowering barriers to entry gets more people into cinemas, which in turn sparks other cultural spending.
Yeah, cultural spending in terms of retail, because there were a lot of deals signed with some pretty big brands for another particular animated film called Nobody.
If you've seen that deals with 30 brands even before the release of the film, as a matter of fact.
And on its opening day, the film-related products made 7 million yuan.
That's about $960,000 in sale.
They did another 3 million blind boxes in sales.
So, obviously, signing those types of brand deals can help, too.
Yeah, and at the same time, another...
Also seemingly an animation movie, The Legend of Hay.
The second installment also became a merchandising phenomenon.
The blind box pre-sale sold out in just two seconds on launch day.
And in its flagship pop-up shop in Beijing's Chaoyang Park, there were more than 150000 visitors.
That came in just 10 days.
So this movie plus retail partnership is showcasing how the Chinese movie production companies investors, they are exploring this new way to profit from their intellectual creations.
How does something sell out in two seconds?
Okay, it's for sale and it's gone.
Yeah, that's the problem when you have such a huge population.
And Peter or Yusheng can speak from experience of how difficult it is to snatch a concert ticket.
Sure.
Well, Chinese blockbusters like Nezha 2 were shown in global screens, and these Chinese films are attracting international travelers.
And again, we'll turn to our reporter Wang Yangyang, who this time spoke with Wu Jie, a graduate...
Thank you.
A graduate of Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs to see how this is interesting.
To listen to this clip.
This is all about how international young kids perceive China through China travel, through the lens of Chinese film.
So Yujie, you have studied in the United States.
Have your classmates abroad ever watched or heard of Chinese films?
And if so, what impressions of Chinese culture did they get from them?
They were kind of curious, so we went to watch the movie together in the cinema and afterwards they told me they feel chinese traditional culture was really lit in their words and that the mix of methodology, you know, family values and modern storytelling was very fresh for them.
And later, through our school SIPA China track program, they also traveled to China.
They came here actually and said their favorite city was Xi'an.
And they told me the city's ancient architecture and atmosphere actually reminded them of a visual they had seen in Nezha.
So this is making the cultural connection even stronger.
And I feel what they found especially interesting was realizing that Chinese culture and Saudi culture actually share some similarities.
For example, both of us put strong emphasis on family bonds and respect for traditions and hospitality.
I still remember they tell me, Vera, your culture and ours are not so different.
I think that's an example of movie serving as a bridge for international students to better understand China.
Have you personally visited any of these locations in China?
I mean, the movie locations?
Yeah, I have been to Xi'an and what impressed me the most was how the city blends its kind of like living rhythm with such a deep sense of history.
You're just walking around the old city walls and you already feel the layers of time.
So when I later watched like the Chang'an, the Liqi Road storyline, I'm a big fan of it.
And the detail about like the fresh lychees being transported like thousands of miles away to the capital city, like just feels so vivid and just everything come true in front of your eyes.
So, standing in Xi'an, I could imagine how exotic and precious that food must have been like, how it symbolized not just luxury, but also luxury the connections between regions along the Silk Road.
So visiting the city made a lot of cultural details in the film much more real to me.
It's almost like the film can sometimes any film can sometimes serve a greater purpose because it can start a conversation right.
And it can lead to people wanting to learn things that maybe they would have never asked those questions before.
So it's a wonderful thing.
The future of movie plus tourism well, we're probably looking at some deeper city branding, some technology driven experiences will continue to expand with vr and ar.
We'll also continue to have examples of retail and lifestyle expansion, collaborations between films and brands and hopefully see a lot more in terms of cultural exports and a lot more interest growing in the country as well.
