TA panoramic view of Xikou township in Longyou county

In recent years, the Longyou government has been implementing the important instructions of the Party General Secretary Xi Jinping to “let the Southern Confucianism take root” and of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee to “build a culturally advanced province” through carrying out different projects accordingly. Cultural inheritance and innovative development have been promoted, the county’s soft power and competitiveness has been enhanced, and a common prosperity demonstration area is being established.

On September 13, in Quzhou city, a work meeting organized by the “80s and 90s youth publicity group” for the Party’s theory of the new era (hereinafter referred to as the “80s and 90s”) was held in Longyou county. At the meeting, the narrators coming from all counties (cities, districts) in Quzhou gathered here, listening, learning and sharing experience with each other. It was a special event aimed not only at promoting innovative practice in publicizing the Party’s theory, but also improving the quality of the publicity program in the whole county.

In September 2019, Longyou took the lead in Zhejiang province in establishing the “80s and 90s”, a group of young people born in 80s and 90s. As the forerunners of the new era, they answer questions and share stories about China. Meanwhile, they improve their narrative skills by learning, enhance their working skills by telling stories and deepen their understanding by practicing. And they can be seen in the farmhouse, fields, squares, schools … nearly everywhere.

In Tuanshi village of Longyou’s Xiaonanhai township, the local government, guided by new ideas and theories, organized and planned a series of activities. The “Tuanshiwan Beer and Music Festival” in particular attracted more than 60 companies and over 150,000 visits, generating consumption worth nearly two million yuan.

Now, the Longyou “80s and 90s” has developed from the initial 30 members to more than 4,000 people, building up a young team, which consists of one county-level group and 76 township-level (sub-districts, departments) sub-groups. These elected members of “80s and 90s” have carried out over 8,000 publicity activities in different forms, accumulating an on-site audience of over 180,000.

In Longyou, a number of public cultural infrastructure and supporting service facilities have emerged one after another. The Longyou County Museum, located on the banks of the Lingshan River, was put into use in May 2020 and has become an instant local favorite; the Southern Confucianism bookshops, located in different corners of Longyou, are welcomed by local folks as a must-visit; the Citizens’ Corners in several neighborhoods are so popular that they are often packed during holidays.

Tuanshiwan village sits in the northwest of Longyou county

In order to satisfy the cultural and spiritual needs of its citizens, in 2019, the Longyou government included the project of “Cultural Home: Citizens’ Corner” into the top ten practical projects for people’s livelihood, and subsidized a total of 3 million yuan for its development. In less than two years, 13 Citizens’ Corners have been built in ten communities.

In 2018, the Longyou government launched a three-year project to upgrade the comprehensive cultural stations in townships (sub-districts), where idle places, after renovation, were turned into fully equipped, functional stations for villagers’ cultural needs. At present, there are 12 comprehensive cultural stations in 15 townships (sub-districts) in Longyou.

The Longyou government attaches great importance to the county’s brand building. The “2019 Longyou’s Action Plan to Create the Most Courteous County” was released for the realization of five major goals, including constructing a courteous county, developing a courteous culture, increasing courtesy level of all citizens, promoting the brand of courtesy, and implementing innovative and courteous governance.

Nowadays, walking in the streets of Longyou, you can see signs of courtesy everywhere: they are in the display boards decorated with green plants and flowers on the square, in the light box advertisements showcasing the "most beautiful Longyou citizens", and all over the main roads and public vehicles. They are shaping the brand of courtesy in an all-round, multi-angle, three-dimensional way, and creating a strong atmosphere of courtesy.

After successfully listed in the first batch of “Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Tourism Industry Integration Pilot Zone”, the Longyou government has actively promoted the integration of excellent traditional culture with cultural experience, recreation, vacation and sports, and through the brand-building activities driven both by the development of culture, tourism and sports and by relevant industries. A series of high-level, large-scale activities and events such as the Liuchun Lake Mountain Marathon, the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, the Chinese Fishing Competition, Longyou Grottoes International Music Festival have also been planned.

At the same time, in the countryside of Longyou, lively cultural and tourism festivals have been held one after another. For example, in the first half of 2021 alone, Tashi township held the “Rape Flower Festival”; Muchen township (of the She ethnic group) held the “She Cultural Tourism Festival”; Dajie township launched the  Tourism Festival”, Hengshan township’s “Tianchi Lotus Cultural Festival” and Sheyang rownship’s “Ancestral Lantern Festival” as well. All of the above festivals have already been well-known for quite a long time.　

The Longyou County Museum

With the accelerated improvement of its cultural tourism projects and business environment, the Longyou government strives to strike a balance between cultural protection and the dynamic cultural progress of the new era. Through well-planned cultural events and activities, tourists have been turned into engaged participants, and local residents have become entrepreneurs, stimulating consumption growth and contributing to economic development. Relying on the power of culture, an economic and tourism industry belt is coming into shape, ready to take off, which has injected new momentum for the rapid development of the county.

Editor:Huang Yan