30th anniversary of discovery of Longyou Grottoes and launch ceremony of cultural gene decoding project held in Longyou

QUZHOU, China, Dec. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With the goal of exploring the ancient grottoes and decoding their cultural genes, the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the Longyou Grottoes and the launch ceremony of the cultural gene decoding project came to a successful conclusion in Longyou County, Quzhou, Zhejiang Province on December 10. The event was organized by Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, undertaken by Longyou County People's Government and hosted by Longyou County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, Longyou County Cultural Tourism Development Co., FM968 Zhejiang Media Group.

Longyou Grottoes is one of China's national key cultural relic protection units and the first locale in Quzhou to receive a 4A rating, one of the highest grades attributed to the country's points of interest by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is acknowledged as the ninth wonder of the ancient world and is the key attraction in Longyou. In June 1992, four villagers in Shiyanbei Village, Longyou County drained a "bottomless pool" and discovered the underground ancient cave. Now, 30 years later, the mysterious charm of the Longyou Grottoes continues to attract thousands of archaeological enthusiasts and tourists.

Over the years, the Longyou County Party Committee and the county government have closely followed the instructions prescribed by the central, provincial and municipal governments on the protection of cultural relics, with close attention to guidelines concerning their preservation and management as well as how to heighten their value, and present them to the public in a way that draws their attention and inspires their curiosity to want to learn more about Chinese culture and its origins. The mission that remains for the party committee and government will be to heighten awareness of the grottoes, and use them as a model for region's integrated development of culture and tourism, with the goal of further developing the region into a tourism destination. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the grottoes, the party committee and the county government jointly released a report on the work that has been done to date and how the grottoes have been a boon to the region's development over the three decades since their discovery.

Li Ning, vice mayor of Quzhou City People's Government, pointed out at the launch ceremony that Longyou County is an expansive region replete with cultural relics, an area famous for its culture, and a leader in tourism. The gene decoding project of the Longyou Grottoes is happening alongside the progress in the development of another of the province's cultural treasures, the Tang Poetry Road that highlights the many poems that were written in the region during the Tang Dynasty. Working in concert with culture and tourism authorities in a four-province effort that includes Zhejiang, Longyou is seeking to advance the development of regional tourism through the integration of culture and tourism. One of the key projects in this vein is the exploratory work being undertaken along the Qujiang and Lingshanjiang, two rivers that flow through the region, to seek and possibly discover further relics of cultural importance. The combination of these projects is expected to inject new vitality into the region, of which the decoding project is one of the starting points. The authorities wish to not only add new and important elements to Longyou's long history, but also to heighten the value of the ancient grottoes, discover other sites with similar cultural value and to eventually add to the ancient charm of the region which, in turn, will attract the attention of the whole world.

Zheng Jianhua, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage said that the 30th anniversary of the grottoes should serve as a new starting point, and that he looks forward to Longyou County Party Committee and the County Government persevering in the good job they are doing at cultural relics protection, by further enhancing their unique cultural value, leveraging the grottoes as a model for the integration of culture and tourism, and, ultimately, adding to the luster to the cultural glory of Zhejiang.

Over the past 30 years, the Longyou County Party Committee and the County Government have done what has been needed to protect the cultural relics in the Longyou Grottoes, and carefully planned the transformation of the area around the grottoes from a cultural protection unit to a fully-equipped tourist resort. With the assistance of cultural relics experts, scholars and other stakeholders, the protection of and publicity work around the Longyou Grottoes has been fruitful. The two government organizations completed the spatial survey and implemented a science-based protection scheme. They have built the academic research platform, carried out high-end academic research and published research results. They have built out the surrounding tourism infrastructure, created a cultural tourism brand that is gaining recognition, built an effective publicity mechanism, and now will launch the cultural gene decoding project.

At the launch ceremony, Zhu Jiandong, Party Secretary of Longyou County, issued certificates to the first group of Longyou Grottoes protection ambassadors. Longyou County People's Government and the Zhejiang Ancient Architecture Design and Research Institute signed the framework agreement for the protection and utilization of Longyou Grottoes and signed a letter of intent for cooperation with the Discovery Channel via a remote hook-up. The guests attending the launch ceremony also participated in the "Millions of Yuan in Prizes Waiting for You" interactive activity during which they joined in an exploration of the unsolved mysteries of the grottoes, as well as in an immersive 3D experience provided by Pimax, a VR hardware provider, where they took a virtual tour of the grottoes.

Yang Baojun, chief economist from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that the current launch ceremony is both timely and significant. He added that we need to understand the historical value of the Longyou Grottoes from the historical perspective of the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", examine the value of the grottoes from the viewpoint of it serving as a source for research into the origins of Chinese civilization, and systematically facilitate their protection, inheritance, activation and utilization.

On December 8^th, the Work Conference of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics took place. It is the largest and most important conference concerning cultural relics and archaeology in Zhejiang province in the past 20 years. Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee Secretary Yi Lianhong stressed in the instructions issued as a result of the conference that the authorities in charge of the province's cultural relics must further the research into the origins of Chinese civilization, strengthen the value of cultural relics and advance the integrated development of culture and tourism, while promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional culture at a high level. The overall mission is to  accelerate the construction of a province-wide network of cultural attractions and museums, and build a cultural highland in the new era. The 30th anniversary of the discovery of the Longyou Grottoes and the launch ceremony of the gene decoding project was held in the first weekend following the conference, demonstrating a concrete implementation of the spirit of the gathering.

As Quzhou is entering the new era and the new journey, Longyou County will take the genetic decoding project as an opportunity to further deepen the research of Longyou Grottoes, promote the integration of culture and tourism, continue to carry out the publicity and promotion of the grottoes, expand the brand influence, and realize their creative transformation and innovative development.

SOURCE FM968 zhejiang media group