Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

 
Over 300 renowned online writers, cartoonists, animators and short drama creators as well as other TV and drama creators participated in the 2024 China Literature Online Creation Conference in Huangshan, East China's Anhui Province, on Wednesday. 

The day before the conference, Governor of Anhui Province Wang Qingxian held a symposium with these online writers in the hopes of promoting in-depth integration of culture and literature, tourism, film and television, and animation to create a positive environment for a cultural and creative industry centered around Huangshan Mountain.

Wang said that Huangshan Mountain has a first-class natural environment that can act as a source of inspiration for creative content, while the unique conditions of the region can promote the development of the cultural and creative industry.

This new model of "IP plus cultural tourism" has increasingly become an important trend in the high quality development of cultural tourism, which helps transform the influence of an IP into local economic development. 

Nourished by stories and emotions, well-known local landmarks are injecting new power into the development of the local cultural tourism industries and creating new quality productive forces. 

With "Huangshan Mountain as the element," and "Hui (Anhui) Culture as the foundation," Zhang Yaqiang, deputy mayor of Huangshan City, said he hopes that creators can produce more popular content with positive energy and promote the integration of IP and film and TV, animation and games. 

Beside attending the online creation conference, these writers were also invited to visit the Huangshan Mountain scenic area to find inspiration. Huangshan, literally meaning "Yellow Mountain," was named after the legend that the Yellow Emperor (Emperor Xuanyuan) once practiced alchemy there.

The area is well known for its scenery, sunset, peculiarly shaped granite peaks, pine trees, hot springs, winter snow and views of the clouds from above. Huangshan, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature including some popular novels from China's swordsman literature giant Jin Yong, as well as modern photography. 

The rich culture and natural resources in Huangshan can help cultivate the creation of high-quality online literature IPs with local characteristics, while the use of multiple mediums such as text and audio, animation, film and television, and games can help make cultural tourism resources readable, audible and visible. All of these efforts can contribute to building Huangshan into a world-class tourist destination. 

"Most of my creative inspiration comes from the landscape and humanities in Hui Culture as well as the poetry about mist and rain in the region south of the Yangtze River," said Zhou Yan, an online writer from Wuhu, which is also in Anhui Province. Her literature work The Moon in the Arms was inspired by the changes and revitalization of a mountain village in Anhui. In 2021, she created Gift, which is set in Huangshan's Hongcun Village, demonstrating her deep love for her home province through the integration of culture and tourism.

Zhou said that to better spread Hui Culture, more and better stories with emotional symbols such as small bridges and flowing water should be used as these can connect the physical landscape with emotions and form a profound cultural impression. 

She plans to innovatively combine Hui Culture and intangible heritage with online novels to shape Anhui's emotional identity and make Huizhou stories more fascinating.

Deeply attracted by the beautiful scenery of Huangshan, another writer Yunhong noted that writing is not just about imagination but also requires personal experience and closeness to the subject. Starting from the details of every plant, every tree, every hill and every drop of water, "we can make the impression of Huangshan more complete," he said.

Tourism has become an important carrier for inheriting and promoting China's fine traditional culture. The in-depth integration of culture and tourism allows people to better understand China's excellent traditional culture and enhance cultural confidence. It not only meets the expectations of tourists, but also houses huge development opportunities.