The scene of the second session of the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress. Photo by Tu Yiqin
The two sessions of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress are being held here. This year, the work report of the provincial government will focus on “focusing on the provincial exploration of promoting the construction of modern civilization of the Chinese nation” as a key task. Continuing to promote the construction of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor has become one of the specific measures.
This is the first time that the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor has appeared in the work report of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. While being known by more people, this prototype corridor is also gathering more expectations in the “upgrade”.
The ruins of the ancient city of Liangzhu. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yuhang District Party Committee
Strategic “triple jump”
The Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, located in Hangzhou’s Yuhang District, is not new. At the end of 2022, Yuhang, which has the empirical evidence of China’s more than 5,000 years of civilization history, the ruins of the ancient city of Liangzhu, drew on the “corridor-style” experience represented by the Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, where its urban area is located, and proposed to build the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, in order to do a good job in the second half of Liangzhu’s application for World Heritage and empower the city’s all-round development through cultural prosperity.
Chinese civilization has outstanding continuity, and this is clearly reflected in the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor. The Grand Corridor is led by the local Liangzhu culture of more than 5,000 years, and combines the canal culture of more than 2,000 years, the Jingshan culture of more than 1,000 years, the ancient town culture of the two thousand years, the Tiaoxi culture and the modern digital culture.
It takes the Liangzhu site and the Liyushan-Laohuling dam site protection area as the core area, covering an area of about 162 square kilometers. The key area involves 7 local towns and streets, covering an area of about 634 square kilometers; The associated area is linked to other Liangzhu cultural relics to strengthen the radiation and influence of Liangzhu culture.
It is worth noting that in just over a year, the construction of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor has achieved a “triple jump” at the strategic level.
In February last year, Hangzhou Mayor Yao Gaoyuan said in his report on the city’s government that it is necessary to continuously enhance the influence of Hangzhou’s historical and cultural city. “Planning to build a Liangzhu Cultural Corridor” was written into the report. This year, the work report of the Zhejiang Provincial Government proposed that it will continue to promote the construction of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor. This initial county plan has thus been upgraded to a provincial deployment.
The scene of the Liangzhu Forum. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yuhang District Party Committee
From “1.0” to “2.0”
Why is the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor getting more and more attention? In addition to its important significance of highlighting the characteristics of Chinese culture and polishing the logo of Chinese civilization, its construction achievements in the past year are also enough to impress people’s hearts.
For the achievements of the corridor in the first year of construction, the person in charge of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor Construction Headquarters introduced: first, a national brand task was completed – the first Liangzhu Forum was successfully held; The second is to create an Asian Games classic – the flame of the Hangzhou Asian Games is ignited here, and the Liangzhu element shines inside and outside the stadium, attracting global attention; Third, a large-scale blueprint has been drawn – the “Liangzhu Cultural Corridor Development Strategy and Action Plan” has been compiled and passed the expert review; Finally, a number of big and good projects have been planned, such as the introduction of the digital theater of the National Theatre of China.
Equally important, the Grand Corridor is also quietly promoting the coordinated development process of Yuhang.
Shi Shiying, a deputy to the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress and head of the site management section of the Hangzhou Liangzhu Ancient City Site World Heritage Monitoring and Management Center, who lives around the Liangzhu Ancient City Ruins, introduced the changes in his eyes, “The construction of the Grand Corridor has attracted a large number of tourists and culture lovers, which has effectively driven cultural and tourism consumption and increased people’s income and employment opportunities. In addition, while our living environment is more beautiful, the shortcomings of medical education around us are gradually being filled. ”
In December last year, Yuhang issued the “Several Policy Opinions on the High-quality Development of the “Culture +” Industry of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, awarded the establishment of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor Construction Work Headquarters, and announced the top ten projects of the first phase of the Grand Corridor, marking the construction of the Grand Corridor from “1.0” to “2.0”.
With a collection of strong and practical policies, we will express our full sincerity to relevant subjects, and further unify the thinking of the whole region and unite the people’s hearts; With the establishment of the headquarters, the system structure is straightened out, the mechanism is operated smoothly, and the construction process is guaranteed; The ten major projects will be used as a concrete starting point for promotion, so that the public can see real changes…… The above actions have their own profound meanings, and they also reflect the “fast horse whip” of its construction and promotion.
The Jingshan tea banquet · tea soup exhibition that embodies the Jingshan tea culture. Photo courtesy of Zhou Ying
Bringing together new expectations
Writing into the work report of the Zhejiang Provincial Government is a new starting point for the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, and it is also gathering higher expectations from all walks of life.
Yuhangjing Mountain Village, where Zhou Ying, deputy to the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress and general manager of Hangzhou Yanchajing Shanzhu Culture Co., Ltd., is located, is located within the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor. The Jingshan tea culture here is also a representative of the Jingshan culture.
“The construction of the Grand Corridor has brought opportunities for the promotion of the Jingshan Camellia brand, and last year we went to the Liangzhu Museum and Liangzhu Ancient City Ruins Park many times to hold experience and display activities, and joined hands with Liangzhu culture, which added great confidence to us.” Zhou Ying hopes that in the future, Jingshan tea can better go out and be seen by the world more by taking advantage of the aggregation and drainage role of the large corridor. At the same time, with the construction of Jingshan Tea Culture Park, one of the top ten projects, landing in Jingshan, she also looks forward to the further improvement of the level of common prosperity in the local villages.
In Shi Shiying’s view, the inclusion of this report not only attracts more “attention” to the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, but also brings more “resources” and “opportunities”. For example, it is expected to introduce more municipal, provincial and even national major industrial projects, public cultural facilities projects and large-scale cultural activities; Bring more employment opportunities, entrepreneurial opportunities and happiness opportunities to the people, so that the people can live and work here in peace and contentment.
Lin Hang, deputy dean and professor of the School of Humanities of Hangzhou Normal University, said that this corridor is now linking the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal, so that the brilliant Liangzhu culture and the canal culture are intertwined and co-prosperous. This leaves a huge space for imagination for the development of various fields along the route in the future.
The reporter learned from Yuhang officials that the local government has made it clear about the future form of the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor, that is, to build it into a high-standard cultural corridor, a high-value ecological corridor, a high-quality development corridor, a high-quality common wealth corridor, and a high-level cooperation corridor.
It starts with culture, not just culture. In the new year, under the new impetus of the provincial deployment, it is worth looking forward to what kind of breakthroughs and new ideas the Liangzhu Cultural Corridor will bring in telling the story of civilization and development. (Wang Yifei)