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Author: Li Hang

Internet celebrity cities have changed one after another, and Shanxi has finally waited for its chance.

Since its launch on August 20, the first domestically produced 3A game "Black Myth: Wukong" (hereinafter referred to as "Black Myth") has quickly won the favor of global players with its exquisite graphics, rich game content and outstanding action design.

As an action role-playing game with Chinese mythology as its background, its art design and scene construction are largely based on real Chinese ancient buildings. According to statistics, the game was filmed in 36 scenic spots in China, of which 27 were filmed in Shanxi Province, including Yungang Grottoes, Hanging Temple, Shanhua Temple, etc.

Yungang Grottoes Image Source: Tuchong Creative

This strategy not only allows players to deeply experience the unique charm of Shanxi's ancient buildings in the virtual world, but also inspires people's yearning and curiosity for these ancient buildings in reality.

Relevant data shows that on the day Black Myth was released, the tourism popularity of the Shanxi scenic spot, the main filming location of the game, increased by 156% month-on-month. According to Qunar data, the search volume for Shanxi in August increased by 1.2 times month-on-month compared with July. Yungang Grottoes, Mount Wutai, Pingyao Ancient City, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda and other scenic spots ranked in the top ten in popularity.

Faced with such overwhelming wealth, the Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism has also responded positively, further promoting Shanxi's cultural and tourism resources by releasing videos such as "Follow Wukong to Travel in Shanxi".

At the same time, netizens have also put forward suggestions, such as working with the official game to set up check-in points at the filming locations, customizing tourist routes, producing "pass documents" and other Journey to the West-related peripherals, and providing multi-language introductions, etc., in order to attract more tourists, especially foreign tourists to come to the "holy land pilgrimage."

Shanxi, this ancient and vibrant land, has long attracted the world's attention with its profound historical and cultural heritage and magnificent natural scenery. However, among many popular tourist provinces, Shanxi's cultural tourism industry always seems to lack the popularity and appeal it deserves.

Now, with the emergence of Wukong, everyone is waiting to see whether it can revitalize Shanxi's cultural tourism.

The "two-way rush" had already begun four years ago

"You must have heard stories about him. Some say he helped Tang Monk obtain the true scriptures and was named Fighting Buddha... Others say he was not the one who became a Buddha..."

In 2020, Black Myth released its first trailer. The stunning visual effects and detailed restoration of ancient Chinese buildings in the video attracted the attention of many netizens. Many people have since begun to explore the real-life locations in the game.

As the main filming location for the game, Shanxi has been actively planning since then, trying to grasp this unique cultural flow.

According to an interview by China National Radio with the head of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, as early as four years ago, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism had already contacted the game creators and reached an agreement on how to promote Shanxi's traditional culture and ancient cultural buildings in the game, thus starting a "two-way rush" between virtual and reality, games and cultural tourism.

On July 1, 2022, the official B station account of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism released the first video related to "Black Myth", comparing the game screen with the real scene of Shuanglin Temple, and introducing the Buddhist colored sculptures in the temple.

Since then, Shanxi Tourism has been interacting with the game company at various points to promote the game. Two videos introducing ancient buildings related to Black Wukong were released one after another within a year, which brought a certain amount of traffic to Shanxi.

As the launch of Black Myth draws near, the promotion of Shanxi's cultural tourism industry has also accelerated significantly. This year, the official B-station account of the Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism has released 8 videos about Black Myth, covering introductions to joint activities and preheating of tourist routes.

The video related to "Black Myth" released by Shanxi Culture and Tourism B Station official account Source: Internet

Among them, on the day the game was released, the Shanxi Tourism official account released an introduction video that combined game screens and local tourist attractions. As of press time, it has been played more than 203,000 times and liked more than 32,000 times.

With the release of Black Myth: Wukong and the growing discussion among players, Shanxi’s tourism searches on OTA platforms have seen a significant increase.

Tongcheng Travel data shows that as of 16:00 on August 20, the search popularity of Shanxi tourism increased by 17% compared with the same period of the previous day, among which the search popularity of Shuozhou tourism increased by 91% and the search popularity of Jincheng tourism increased by 63%. In the short term, this growth is expected to quickly translate into actual tourist numbers and economic benefits.

Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out in an interview with Time Weekly that as the influence of games continues to ferment, Shanxi's brand image as a tourist destination will be unprecedentedly enhanced. This will not only stimulate the strong interest of domestic and foreign tourists, but will also bring direct income growth to Shanxi's hotel accommodation, catering, transportation and other tourism-related fields.

Wang Peng further emphasized that the enhancement of this brand influence will bring long-term positive effects to Shanxi's cultural and tourism industry and promote the overall development of the local economy.

"Shanxi can use the IP of Black Myth: Wukong to further explore and integrate its own cultural and tourism resources, form a tourism brand with unique charm, and lay a solid foundation for long-term development." Wang Peng said.

Traffic problems need to be solved urgently

"Look at Shanxi for its cultural relics", this sentence reveals Shanxi's status as a province with many cultural relics in my country. However, for a long time, many ancient buildings in Shanxi were hidden in the deep boudoir and unknown to the public. Until 2020, the emergence of "Black Myth: Wukong", with its exquisite pictures and profound cultural heritage, made Shanxi's ancient buildings begin to attract the public's keen attention.

In August 2023, Black Myth: Wukong held a massive trial event. Along with it came a wave of "pilgrimages to the holy land". Many players and tourists went to Shanxi to visit the real-life locations in the game and record their discoveries with their cameras.

It was from this time that the B station UP host "Xu Gong Du Cheng" (hereinafter referred to as "Xu Gong") began a journey closely connected with the filming locations of "Black Myth".

"Mr. Xu" said that from November last year to now, he has successively traveled to Chongqing, Sichuan, Gansu, Hebei, Shanxi and other places, and released 30 related tour videos, 22 of which are related to Shanxi. Over the past six months, he has gradually deepened his understanding and interest in ancient Chinese architecture. He also has a deep insight into the problems existing in Shanxi's cultural tourism.

He told the Times Weekly reporter that Shanxi's ancient buildings are particularly scattered and located in remote areas, most of which are located in uninhabited villages and towns with inconvenient transportation.

The "Study on the Dilemma and Countermeasures of Shanxi Tourism Development" also pointed out that although Shanxi, as a province with rich cultural relics, has rich tourism resources, these ancient architectural heritages are mostly scattered in remote areas. For example, Yungang Grottoes, Mount Wutai, Hanging Temple and other scenic spots and historical sites are not in the city center, and many are hidden in the mountains of villages. Although the resources are rich, they are small in size and scattered in distribution, and they urgently need to improve transportation and infrastructure to improve their accessibility.

On August 22, the 2024 Digital Cultural Tourism Brand Innovation Conference was held in Taiyuan. At the opening ceremony, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism released the "Follow Wukong to Tour Shanxi" theme route. It includes three special tourist routes: North Shanxi Line, South Shanxi Line and Southeast Shanxi Line.

However, the traffic problem was once again pointed out. Some netizens said that the guide had been prepared long ago, and the current problem was still the traffic problem, calling for the opening of a special travel line.

Song Xiangqing, deputy dean of the Institute of Government at Beijing Normal University and director of the Center for Industrial Economics Research, also said in an interview that apart from the "Five Pingqiao" - Mount Wutai in Xinzhou, Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Pingyao Ancient City in Jinzhong and Qiao Family Courtyard - other tourist routes in Shanxi are relatively scattered, and the tourism conversion rate of cultural relics units is also low. Although there are more than 500 key cultural relics protection units across the country, only one-third of them can be converted into tourist attractions based on ticket management as the standard for tourism opening.

It can be seen that after waiting for its own opportunity to stand out, transportation has become an important issue that Shanxi needs to solve urgently.

The craze for Black Myth has lasted for four days since the game was launched. Whether Shanxi can seize the popularity of this cultural phenomenon and transform it into a lasting driving force for the development of local tourism will be tested by the tourism data of the upcoming National Day Golden Week.