Reviving heritage toward future: Chinese culture holds greater appeal globally

BEIJING

As visitors milled through the ancient courtyards of Nanchan Temple in Wutai County in north China’s Shanxi Province, Ma Yongpeng stood among them, casually spinning a replica of the Monkey King’s golden cudgel.

The young entrepreneur from Beijing, like many others recently drawn to the site, had come because of the globally acclaimed video game “Black Myth: Wukong.”

Nanchan Temple — home to one of Asia’s oldest surviving wooden structures, dating back more than 1,000 years — features prominently in the “Triple-A” game inspired by the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West.”

“I grew up playing video games, mostly imports from Japan, the United States, or Europe, crafted with incredible skill and attention to detail,” he said. “In China, few games reach that level. But ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ is definitely one of the greats.”

Captivated by the ancient structures and sculptures depicted in the game, Ma mapped out a nine-day trip across the province to gain first-hand experience, joining a wave of domestic travelers increasingly drawn by the country’s cultural heritage.

This trend reflects a broader vision gaining ground across the country, where tourism is seen as a way for people to better understand Chinese culture and grow more confident in it.

During the just-concluded eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, China recorded 888 million domestic tourist trips, up 123 million from the seven-day National Day holiday in 2024, according to official data released on Thursday.

In the same period, a total of 751,000 foreigners entered the country, including 535,000 under the visa-free policy, representing year-on-year increases of 19.8 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively.

Source: Xinhua