The China Tourism Association (CTA) recently released 20 innovative cases highlighting the integration of intangible cultural heritage and tourism, underscoring the vitality of heritage tourism.

Xuan paper, a type of handmade paper commonly used for calligraphy and painting, serves as a key carrier of Chinese culture, and the Xuan paper-making technique is recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. Jingxian county in east China's Anhui Province is known as the birthplace of Xuan paper.

Visitors learn to make paper at the intangible cultural heritage experience zone in Xuan paper cultural park, a national 4A-level tourist attraction in Jingxian county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo/Rong Chao)

In recent years, Xuan paper cultural park, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, has moved beyond the traditional model of heritage sites that merely showcase crafts to create an immersive experience covering the entire process of Xuan paper production.

At the site, visitors can observe the growth of raw materials used in Xuan paper production. In the experience zone, representative inheritors demonstrate the paper-making process, allowing visitors to participate in hands-on activities. In the cultural creation area, visitors can see how digital technology transforms traditional paper into modern artistic works.

During this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in early October, the cultural park received 47,400 tourist visits, a 13 percent increase year on year.

Wuqiao county in north China's Hebei Province is renowned as the "cradle of Chinese acrobatics." In 2006, Wuqiao acrobatics was included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage.

Wuqiao has made efforts to integrate acrobatics with tourism, enabling visitors to enjoy traditional acrobatic performances during the day and spectacular stage shows and parades at night.

Statistics from the county's bureau of culture, radio, television and tourism show that during this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Wuqiao saw 328,300 tourist visits, a 94.3 percent increase year on year. By leveraging intangible cultural heritage skills, the county has forged a distinctive path of development that enriches cultural experiences while boosting tourism.

"Tourism is an important channel for showcasing intangible cultural heritage and has become a vital platform for exploring and maximizing heritage value. At the same time, intangible cultural heritage has injected momentum into the high-quality development of tourism," said Yang Hong, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Communication Research Center at the Communication University of China.

"Heritage tourism unlocks limitless opportunities through cross-sector collaboration," said Duan Qiang, president of the CTA.

A dragon boat race attracts residents and tourists alike in Dali town, Nanhai district, Foshan city, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo courtesy of the culture, radio, television, tourism and sports bureau of Nanhai district)

Amid the verdant mountains and waters of Sandan township in Dongyang, a county-level city administered by Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang Province, an intangible cultural heritage fashion show recently unfolded. Local villagers, dressed in fashionable attire made of blue calico, performed against a backdrop of terraced fields in an ancient village, vividly recreating scenes of blue calico production from over 400 years ago. Villagers became cultural performers, while tourists shifted from observers to active participants.

This intangible cultural heritage fashion show is a miniature reflection of local efforts to explore how intangible cultural heritage can empower the tourism sector.

In 2017, Lin Qi, a representative inheritor of Dongyang blue calico, an intangible cultural heritage item in Jinhua, returned to her hometown to revive and preserve the blue calico craft. With support from the local government, she established a comprehensive intangible cultural heritage complex that hosts experiential heritage activities on organic farms and in tea gardens. The complex links diverse businesses, including B&B hotels, vegetarian restaurants, coffee shops and teahouses, to create an ecosystem for passing down intangible cultural heritage.

In 2024, the complex generated revenue of 44.58 million yuan ($6.26 million) and increased collective village income by 3.95 million yuan, demonstrating the enormous potential of intangible cultural heritage to drive the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

At a B&B hotel in Huoshaodian town, located at the southern foothills of the Qinling Mountains in Liuba county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the hotel owner was busy crafting bamboo-woven lanterns and other intangible cultural heritage items.

A performance themed on blue calico, an intangible cultural heritage, is staged at an intangible cultural heritage complex in Dongyang, a county-level city administered by Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo courtesy of the intangible cultural heritage complex)

This innovative approach of integrating intangible cultural heritage into B&B hotels has created new opportunities for Liuba county to generate more tourism revenue.

Liuba county has built 193 B&B hotels, upgraded 122 agritainment facilities, trained 747 B&B housekeepers and supported entrepreneurship for more than 5,000 people. In 2024, products combining intangible cultural heritage with B&B tourism generated annual sales exceeding 15 million yuan, while over 400 women saw their monthly incomes rise by an average of 2,500 yuan through jobs related to intangible cultural heritage experiences.

"Today, intangible cultural heritage has become a golden key for driving comprehensive rural revitalization and promoting common prosperity," said Wu Ruoshan, a council member of the Beijing Tourism Society.