Consumption of online cultural activities thrives in China

Photo shows artifacts on display at the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou city, east China’s Jiangsu Province. (Photo/Zhong Yunbo)

Watching shows, listening to concerts, visiting exhibitions… online cultural activities are creating new consumption scenarios and delivering new experiences for the public.

Since the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) kicked off its first online performance on April 11, 2020, it has presented a total of more than 120 shows online, including concerts, dance shows, modern dramas, and operas. These shows have been watched a total of 3.4 billion times online so far.

Chen Li, a music critic, expressed that by moving shows online, the NCPA has demonstrated the diversity and inclusivity of art through the integration of various forms of expression and by holding various types of shows.

In August 2020, the NCPA streamed a concert in 8K via 5G networks, which was the first of its kind in the world. In the 8K ultra-high-definition video, the audience could even see the hair of the performers, as well as the sweat on their faces, allowing them to be deeply immersed in the show.

Wang Ning, president of the NCPA, said in the future, the NCPA will continue to explore the application of 5G networks, 8K and other advanced technologies to boost the audio-visual effects of art performances and bring art closer to the life of everyone.

This year, the China Grand Canal Museum, located in Yangzhou city, east China’s Jiangsu Province, rolled out special exhibitions aiming at introducing cities along the Grand Canal, and also unveiled online versions of the shows. On May 27, the first exhibition introducing Luoyang city in central China’s Henan Province, was opened.

Since March 2022, nearly 20 episodes of short videos featuring the exhibition on Luoyang city have been released on multiple social media platforms, attracting over 8 million viewers.

Zhou Fang, a woman who works in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, said she can go on a “tour” to the China Grand Canal Museum whenever she wants by watching short videos released by the museum.

According to Zhou, the short videos tell stories about cultural relics from Luoyang, such as how they were transported from Luoyang to Yangzhou and how they were displayed after they arrived at Yangzhou, among other information.

The woman expressed that watching online exhibitions can be flexible and convenient, and there are diverse exhibition options for audiences. She said online exhibitions have become a new fashion for young people to participate in cultural consumption and acquire cultural knowledge.

“In addition to the special exhibitions, we also moved 14 permanent exhibitions online,” said Zheng Jing, curator of the China Grand Canal Museum, who added that online exhibitions are complementary to offline exhibitions and the process of planning and staging online exhibitions is a journey focused on how best to recreate them, during which the exhibition planners have to apply their cultural and historical knowledge, as well as digital technologies in an effort to host high-quality exhibitions.