Counting Down! The Fifth Grand Canal Culture and Tourism Expo Will Have New Upgrades with 17 Exciting Exhibitions in 6 Major Themes

On the afternoon of September 4, the 5th Grand Canal Culture and Tourism Expo held a press conference in Nanjing, announcing that the Expo’s series of activities will start from September 21 to 24 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

This year's Expo will have 6 themes and 17 exhibitions, including Night Walk on Baodai Bridge, Opening Ceremony, Night Tour on Jinji Lake, exhibition, Theme Forum, Interaction, etc. On the night of September 21, the participants will enjoy the night view along the Baodai Bridge, a world cultural heritage of the Grand Canal, and experience the Canal's continuous cultural charm that lasts for thousands of years. After the night walk on the Baodai Bridge, the opening ceremony of the Fifth Canal Expo will be started, and the theme performances of "Millennium-old Canal - Opera Collection" select 11 opera genres from 8 provinces and cities along the Canal, and invite 15 winners of China Theater Plum Blossom Award to showcase the splendid culture of the millennium-old Canal in the form of Chinese opera.

During the Expo, six theme exhibitions, including the Canal City Cultural and Tourism Exhibition, Canal-featured Tourism Product Exhibition, Canal Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition, Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, "Encounter of the Silk Road and Canal" Theme Exhibition, and Canal Food Culture Exhibition, will be on display at the same time. According to incomplete statistics, in the theme exhibition of this Expo, there is a substantial increase in the number of exhibitors from outside the province compared with previous years, accounting for 69.7%. In addition, the Grand Canal Cultural Heritage Protection and Inheritance Seminar and the Grand Canal City Cultural Tourism Consumption Forum, the Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Investment and Financing Forum will also be held at the same time, so that the visitors can understand the fruitful achievements of the protection, inheritance, and utilization of the Grand Canal culture from different perspectives.

This year's Expo will also launch the "Year of Culture and Tourism in China and Spain" theme exhibition, national theme pavilion, etc., to better promote the exchange and integration in "Silk Road and Canal Connection for Win-Win Cooperation". Supporting activities such as the "Charm of Jiangsu - Canal Tour" and the "Charm of Jiangsu” Cultural Tourism Promotion Conference that target international audience will showcase the profound cultural heritage of the Grand Canal and the development achievements of the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal cultural belt, and continue to enhance the international influence and reputation of Jiangsu's cultural tourism brand. The "Metaverse Interactive Experience Zone of the Grand Canal" will be innovatively set up to reproduce the natural scenery, historical buildings and cultural heritages along the Grand Canal through digital twin technology together with scene transitions and camera movements.