Hangzhou Xixi Investment & Development Co., Ltd.: An International Tourism Complex Rooted in the Cultural Heritage of Xixi Waterways

The 2021 “Happy Spring Festival” event, hosted by China Media Group’s CCTV Video and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, aims to distill and showcase Chinese Spring Festival culture, enhance the international community’s understanding of China, and jointly build a bridge of friendship for cultural communication and exchange between China and other countries. The event will explore the festive atmosphere in ten Chinese cities, uncover the diverse ways in which these cities celebrate the New Year and their unique lifestyles, compare the differences in Spring Festival traditions across these cities, and highlight the rich diversity of Chinese culture.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 11th “Happy Spring Festival” event will primarily focus on “online engagement,” with an online livestream series titled “Chatting About the Spring Festival.” The large-scale multimedia initiative “Chatting About the Spring Festival” will feature 10 consecutive livestream episodes, exploring ten Chinese cities.

As one of the ten cities explored in this event, Hangzhou naturally exudes a unique Jiangnan charm. The eighth installment, “Hangzhou: Beautiful Scenery in Zhejiang,” will also take you to Hangzhou Xixi Paradise, where the park’s “Joyful Song – Celebrating the New Year” themed series of activities throughout the Spring Festival—and the Sheraton Xixi’s innovative immersive theatrical experience, “Xixi Night Banquet”—will showcase how the people of Hangzhou have celebrated the Lunar New Year, lived their lives, and enjoyed their leisure time in ways that are distinct from others, spanning from the past to the present, from youth to old age, and from tradition to innovation.

The celebrity guests will don Hanfu and travel back in time to the “Sating Imperial Residence” of the Song Dynasty for a night banquet in Xixi. At the “Versatile Banquet” set up in Xixi, guests from all directions will be welcomed—while the Xixi Sheraton Sating French Restaurant, which once exuded the charm of Paris’s Moulin Rouge, transforms into a romantic “Sating Imperial Residence,” embarking on a journey through the Song Dynasty. Throughout the event, the celebrity guests will wear Hanfu and interact closely with NPCs, working together to advance the storyline in a delightfully engaging way.

The Spring Festival “Joyful Song – Celebrating the New Year” themed event has also set up three outdoor photo check-in spots in the park—“Every Wish Granted,” “Congratulations on Prosperity,” and “May All Your Wishes Come True”—as well as a traditional-style prayer wall titled “Joyful Song – Celebrating the New Year – Praying for Blessings” in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, all of which help to create a festive New Year atmosphere. Each hotel has also set up family photo booths in their lobbies, featuring a classic Song Dynasty aesthetic that exudes warmth and heartfelt charm.

The city of Hangzhou and the treasured land of Xixi—how they have evolved and what stories they hold over the centuries; the innovative, cutting-edge tourism offerings of the Xixi Paradise International Tourism Complex, along with cultural tourism–themed New Year events—will all be brought to life through the lens of “Big Talk About the Spring Festival.” Through on-site inspections, live interactions, and immersive experiences in everyday life, guests will gradually unveil the mysteries of this picturesque Jiangnan city, revealing the profound depth hidden within its graceful, understated charm and the rich cultural essence nestled within its delicate, jade-like beauty.

“Tales of the Spring Festival” will leverage new media platforms such as the internet and mobile devices, partnering with the CCTV’s Audiovisual New Media Center. Using the CCTV Video mobile app as its primary distribution platform and “online performances” as its main presentation format, the program will collaborate with artistic groups both in China and abroad. Centered on Chinese Spring Festival culture, Chinese art, and traditional culture, it will convey the joyous and festive atmosphere of the Chinese Spring Festival to international friends around the globe, as well as to Chinese embassies and consulates overseas and to overseas Chinese communities—promoting and widely disseminating traditional Chinese culture while showcasing the profound depth and long history of Chinese culture.