China's cultural tourism industry rides on 5G amid epidemic

XI'AN — With online cultural products flourishing amid the epidemic, China's cultural tourism industry hopes to grab the opportunities brought by digital development based on 5G technologies.

China has been accelerating its deployment of the 5G network in recent years. It plans to build more than 555,000 5G base stations nationwide by the end of 2020.

A circular on 5G development issued recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stressed the promotion of new information consumption based on 5G, calling for multimedia innovation in education, entertainment and mass media.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a live streaming concert by Xi'an Symphony Orchestra was recently performed at the Xi'an Concert Hall in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, receiving 42,000 views in an hour.

Meanwhile, a folk song fair in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was broadcast online, during which 20 webcasts were organized by the local culture and tourism office to show the natural scenery and ethnic customs in Guangxi.

To Cao Jiwen, brand director of Xi'an Symphony Orchestra, the flourishing online cultural products, including cloud exhibitions, online disco dancing and virtual tours, served to test the waters for the upcoming 5G era.

Cao said the 5G commercial use would lead to technical changes of high-definition video, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems in China's cultural tourism industry, nurturing new consumption models.

"It's important to explore the '5G plus tourism industry' pattern to grab new development opportunities before the popularization of 5G," he added.

Facing new development trends, China will further promote supply-side structural reform with new technologies like 5G and ultra high definition (UHD) to cultivate new forms of business, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.