Hebei: Launching Cultural Projects to Benefit the People

By staff reporter LI GUOWEN

WITH the Bohai Sea to its east and the Taihang Mountains on its western borders, Hebei's topography is that of China on a smaller scale. Here you can see farming, nomadic and marine cultures intertwined, all alongside modern industrial towns and cities. How to better benefit people with its diverse cultural resources is high on the agenda of the Hebei provincial government, said Wang Jingwu, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee.

The Mushroom Museum in Pingquan County, Chengde City.  Photo by Yu Xiangjun

Building Hebei's Public Cultural Service Network

The Hebei provincial government has carried out a host of projects expanding access to culture for ordinary citizens and a five-tier public cultural service network has taken shape in the province. The five tiers refer to province, prefecture-level city, county (county-level city and district), town/township (sub-district) and village (neighborhood).

"Hebei Province plans to use one percent of the urban construction fee levied by local governments to build community cultural facilities, which are prerequisites to improve people's cultural life," Wang Jingwu said.

In the meantime, local governments have already put efforts into building facilities and encouraging cultural life. Bazhou City, for instance, has built public cultural services, playing a big role in organizing cultural activities. Further inland, Dingzhou City has introduced a program called "Cultural Circles Within 15 Minutes." Here, anyone can find a cultural facility within 15 minutes' walk from his or her home.

Another example of successful local initiative is "Happy Countryside," a project introduced by Handan City. Thanks to "Happy Countryside" cultural activities are flourishing in rural Handan. Many villagers find their values and spiritual outlook refreshed by the project. Activities in the "Happy Countryside" program have greatly enriched villagers' lives and contributed to the development of local agriculture and commerce.

A project called "Benefiting the Populace" has also had a significant impact on the cultural lives of Hebei residents. A survey conducted in early 2010 found that of Hebei's 153 county towns, only one had a cinema able to screen digital movies. This was far from meeting locals' increasingly strong demand for watching digital blockbusters. In 2011, the provincial government took steps to remedy this, and by the National Day on October 1, 2011, all of the province's 153 county towns boasted digital cinemas.

The provincial government is determined to continue to enhance local cultural life in the coming years, and has set a series of goals for the period of 2011-2015 that will further guarantee citizens' fundamental cultural rights. These include establishing an inclusive and convenient public service network that adds to the government's ability to improve people's wellbeing through cultural programs and constructing venues necessary to host cultural activities.

A Different Kind of Development

"I have been exploring how to turn Hebei's advantage in cultural resources to its advantage in cultural industries," said Wang Jingwu. Wang is aware of the great potential of Hebei's cultural resources. In recent years the local government has been exploring how exactly this can be done, and it has come up with a number of solutions.

One success story is that of Yuxian County, close to the border with Shanxi Province. Rich in mineral resources, much of the local economy was reliant on mineral extraction, and the county government is keen to change this by using another local feature: papercuts. Yuxian's papercuts take this age-old Chinese craft to a whole new level, creating colorful images using multiple layers of paper. To encourage locals to exploit the commercial potential of this craft, the county founded the Yuxian Papercutting Art Festival, and now, several years later, one can stroll down a whole street dedicated to papercutting and its trade.

In Wang Jingwu's opinion, transforming traditional culture into a brand is essential for its commercialization, so that it can contribute to local livelihoods, and refined cultural products are exactly what the government advocates. To achieve this, Hebei has introduced supporting policies to create conditions for locals to develop original cultural products that display striking local flavors. A slew of cultural brands have been introduced, taking advantage of Hebei's cultural resources whether they are rooted in folk, revolutionary, or modern culture.

Dachang County has achieved great success with Pingju, an opera typical of northern China. Under the guidance of the county government, the local Pingju troupe has enhanced Pingju to make it a comprehensive stage art. The provincial government brought the Hebei Acrobatic Troupe and the Wuqiao Acrobatic Association together in order to develop Hebei Acrobatics, which enjoyed sizable profits from its performance at Jeju in South Korea.

Hebei has huge potential for the development of unique cultural products, such as the black pottery of Guantao, the snuffbottle interior paintings of Hengshui, Quyang stone carvings, Yuxian papercuts, Ningjin gongbi ("fine brushwork") Chinese paintings, and Haocheng's palace lanterns. The provincial government plans to establish 15 provincial cultural industry parks, five provincial cultural demonstration areas, 10 clusters of advantageous industries, and at least one large landmark cultural industry park for each prefecture-level city.

Hebei Culture Goes Global

In recent years, Hebei has publicized its local culture abroad with activities and cultural exchanges, and awareness of Hebei culture has spread at a remarkable rate. "For eight straight years, Hebei has held culture weeks in eight different countries, including Australia, Russia and Britain," Wang Jingwu said proudly.

Hebei, like other provinces, has largely depended on enterprises to introduce its culture abroad through cultural exchanges. Measures are being taken to smoothen the process of spreading traditional Chinese culture overseas, creating platforms for development and attracting private investment. "There are many cultural industry parks in our province. Through reform, their mechanisms for operation are becoming more and more flexible," Wang said.

Hebei is taking advantage of every channel available, whether they are between individuals, public or charitable organizations, or private enterprises. The provincial government has established relationships with sister cities around the world as well as overseas cultural centers and the aforementioned Hebei Culture Week. The province also plans to take full advantage of the Internet and other media channels to spread the influence of Hebei's culture.

In the meantime, attempts are being made to deliver cultural education, such as acrobatics and martial arts training, to enthusiasts abroad, so that Hebei's culture can be enjoyed worldwide.