What will happen whenmillennium-old Dunhuang meets the century-old ship administration? Recently, a “Dialogue between Sand and Sea-Dunhuang Art Treasures Exhibition in China Ship Administration Cultural City” was held in the marine engineering workshop of China Ship Administration Cultural City. The century-old ship administration building became a “cave” and a new landmark for Fuzhou cultural tourism.
In recent years, China Ship Administration Cultural City has continuously introduced new formats, introduced fine arts and culture, and created IP related to cultural tourism, thus rejuvenating the century-old ship administration.
The Dunhuang art treasures exhibition in the marine engine workshop attracts tourists.
Ship administration architecture becomes a “cave”
And a new landmark for cultural tourism
In the China Shipbuilding Culture City, a European-style two-story red brick building came into view. This is the oldest building in the existing shipbuilding industry site, and it is also a national key cultural protection unit. Downstairs is the workshop for ship administration to manufacture steam engines, which is called the engine factory (engine workshop). Upstairs is the place of paiting, which is called the Painting Institute.
The engine factory was founded in the sixth year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1867). There were three original workshops, but one was blown up in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The first marine steam engine made in China was born here in 1871. After renovation and revitalization, the workshop often holds various exhibitions.
In January this year, the four-month Dunhuang Art Treasures Exhibition opened here. The exhibition is now drawing to a close, but there are still many tourists coming here.
What attracts tourists to come here? The reporter saw that the exhibition exhibited more than 200 exhibits, including the most representative copy of the murals in Dunhuang Grottoes, the copied colored sculptures in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, the musical instruments in the restored Dunhuang murals, the architectural models in the 3D printed Dunhuang murals, and the copied caves. The copy of the famous murals Wutai Mountain Map, Jiletian Playing the Pipa, and King Lu Bunsen Story Painting was the first time to be displayed in Fuzhou.
It is worth mentioning that Caves 3 and 285 of the Mogao Grottoes, which have not been opened to the public, have also been copied into the engine workshop in equal proportion.
“This exhibition in Fuzhou has been organized since May last year.” According to the relevant person in charge of Fujian Ship Administration Culture Management Committee, this exhibition is a new attempt to activate the use of old buildings of ship administration and create IP for cultural tourism. Dunhuang is a transit point of the Silk Road on land, and Fuzhou is an important birthplace of the Maritime Silk Road. Together, the two forms a colorful cultural landscape of China, showing the unique role of China in the cultural exchange between the East and the West. This exhibition marks a new chapter in the cultural inheritance and exchange between Dunhuang and Fuzhou.
“Memory of Ship Administration” was staged in China Ship Administration Cultural City.
Old buildings turned into immersive theaters.
“Memory of Ship Administration” came popular.
Recently, the much-anticipated version 2.0 of “Memory of Ship Administration” was launched, with the original crew playing, the performance details upgraded and the performance doubled.
It is the first multi-dimensional experience drama in China. This drama successfully transformed the machine repair workshop built in 1975 in China Ship Administration Cultural City into the first folding progressive theater in China. Combining advanced stage technology and digital technology, it presents an immersive performance for the audience through the combination of sound and light, stage machinery and actors’ performances.
Since its premiere on December 23, 2023, “Memory of Ship Administration” has won wide acclaim in the market for its grand historical narrative, unique stage form and emotional performance. During the Spring Festival this year, the number of performances of the drama has been increasing, and it is hard to find a ticket, which has greatly promoted the spread of excellent traditional culture in Fuzhou.
“I don’t think it is accidental that this play can be popular. It is not only a story of ponytail and Fuzhou, but also an artistic poem that reflects the feelings of home and country. It is a story that can arouse the greatest range of empathy.” Chen Yue, the chief producer and expert in the history of ship administration, said.
In recent years, China Ship Administration Cultural City has adhered to the principle of “building tourism by literature” and “displaying literature by tourism”, and introduced new formats of cultural tourism, such as cultural creation, reading space, popular science research and performing arts, to create a new landmark of Fuzhou cultural tourism. A special exhibition on steelhull and aircraft manufacturing was set up in the localsteelhull factory where the first homemade seaplane A-1 was born in China; The Centennial Architectural Painting Institute shows the real scene of ship design a hundred years ago; The comprehensive warehouse was transformed into China Ship Administration and Culture Museum; The mechanical loading course warehouse was transformed into a ship administration bookstore, and various research, theme party days and reading sharing activities were carried out one after another.
“We strive to make the spirit and culture of ship administration truly visible and tangible, attract more tourists to swim in ship administration and Fuzhou, and make it bigger and stronger to be an excellent cultural tourism economy.” The relevant person in charge of the Fujian Ship Administration Culture Management Committee said.