Storytelling through travel

(China Each day) Underneath the blue skies of the Zhalong Nationwide Nature Reserve in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province, actor Shen Teng and fellow solid members sprint by means of fields of towering reeds, laughing their manner by means of a collection of playful challenges.  

The scene is lighthearted, however it additionally captures one thing extra profound: a actuality present rethinking how leisure and journey can work collectively in storytelling.  

As travel-themed applications crowd an more and more aggressive market, Pure Excessive has carved out its personal area of interest with a easy however distinctive formulation — video games plus tourism.  

Now in its third season on Tencent Video, the present has pushed this idea even additional, experimenting with richer cultural experiences and extra immersive storytelling.  

This fusion has resulted in a powerful synergy: every episode highlights the distinctive characters of its vacation spot whereas sparking real curiosity amongst viewers, making a win-win for each the present and native tourism.

In Qiqihar, the present’s influence was rapid. Hashtags linked to town surged previous 100 trending entries throughout platforms, associated movies drew almost 50 million views, and the Zhalong Nature Reserve shot to No 1 on Fliggy’s native points of interest checklist, and remained there for 13 consecutive days.  

On the day the fourth episode about Qiqihar aired, the present achieved its highest viewership of the season, rating at No 1 on Tencent Video’s actuality present checklist.  

By turning each recreation right into a gateway to tradition and each vacation spot into a personality of its personal, along with native tourism bureaus, the third season of Pure Excessive is redefining the mainstream game-based selection present.  

The present’s producer, Zhang Yu, explains that probably the most essential aim of Pure Excessive is to ship pleasure.  

“Regardless of what number of seasons we make, we wish viewers to really feel real happiness by means of the present and consider, ‘I can have this sort of pleasure too’. We hope to spark a way of longing and inspiration,” she says.  

Company really feel the heat of the tradition, and viewers can extra naturally and vividly sense the vitality of every place,” Zhang says.

After the primary two seasons, which centered closely on nature and biodiversity, the third season intentionally turns towards human tales and neighborhood traditions. “Human cultural vitality is less complicated for the viewers to empathize with,” Zhang says.  

Selecting every vacation spot is equally deliberate. Zhang says the crew first agrees on a location’s most hanging and consultant landscapes. Their high precedence is discovering surroundings sturdy sufficient to set off a bodily response — locations the place friends instinctively “oh” and “ah” or attain for his or her cameras.  

The second precedence is discovering an atmosphere the place the solid can calm down and really feel the restorative energy of nature. With three seasons behind them, the manufacturing crew now selects places that amplify their chemistry, serving to friends shed their on a regular basis identities.  

For instance, in Qiqihar, the friends naturally mentioned northeastern breakfasts and dialects. They took half in native folks actions which, in flip, created a way of ease from the right mixture of vacation spot and visitor environment.

Behind the scenes, native governments are more and more lively in shaping every episode. Co-producer Deng Juncheng says the crew usually spends a few week scouting every potential location, with cultural tourism departments offering essential insights.  

“Native cultural tourism workplaces are very welcoming and sometimes take us to particular locations we would not uncover in any other case,” Deng says.  

As an example, when the crew arrived in Nyingchi, Xizang autonomous area, the native tourism authority introduced them to town’s cultural heart, the place they showcased the area’s most treasured ethnic merchandise and highlights, inspiring the crew’s recreation designs.  

“These supplies had been handed to the writers and administrators and quietly built-in into the mechanics of every recreation, making the present each enjoyable and deeply related to the area,” Deng says.  

Zhang sees this as an indication of a broader transformation. “The assist from cultural tourism departments is not nearly recommending sources; furthermore, they’re deeply concerned in content material co-creation,” she says.

This collaborative method displays a shift in how native governments have interaction in cultural tourism promotion.  

Liu Haoran, an official on the Qiqihar municipal bureau of tradition, radio, tv, and tourism, says the change is profound. “Prior to now, it was ‘I will let you know what we’ve got.’ Now it has develop into, ‘What do you wish to see?'” Liu says.  

As on-line tradition reshapes expectations, Liu believes that emotional resonance, authenticity, heat, and youth-friendly language are more and more essential instruments for tourism promotion. “This period presents a giant problem for cultural tourism departments, in addition to an enormous alternative,” he says.  

In considered one of this season’s episodes set in Qiqihar — hometown of visitor Shen Teng — the present makes use of his affection and familiarity with town to provide viewers an intimate first-person expertise of its meals and surroundings.  

“Qiqihar has two signature identities,” Liu explains. “One is our ecological identification: the Zhalong Nationwide Nature Reserve is the world’s largest breeding habitat for wild red-crowned cranes. These birds have stringent environmental necessities, so guests can really feel the concord between people and nature.  

“The second identification is meals,” Liu continues. “Qiqihar is a multiethnic area. Our well-known barbecue tastes so good as a result of it blends strategies from completely different ethnic teams, together with Korean, Manchu, and Mongolian traditions.”  

Sitting at 47 levels north latitude, Qiqihar hosts a globally acknowledged “golden zone” for cattle elevating, which contributes to its famend beef. The town now has greater than 11,000 barbecue eating places, with almost 13,000 extra exterior the area working underneath the title “Qiqihar barbecue”.  

After the episode aired, Liu says many viewers started planning journeys to town. “As locals, we’re thrilled. We hope to show this large wave of on-line consideration into genuine, joyful journey experiences,” Liu says.  

To welcome guests, Qiqihar has enhanced tourism providers at key transportation hubs and launched 5 curated journey routes, together with winter occasions starting from ice hockey to snow-camping festivals.

Because the season approaches its finale, Pure Excessive continues to dominate Tencent Video’s selection present rankings and holds a standout ranking of 9.8 out of 10. This efficiency has viewers already anticipating what comes subsequent.  

Preparations for future seasons are underway. “We are going to enrich our inventive inspiration as we take within the surroundings and embrace adjustments and surprises all through the filming course of. Each encounter alongside the best way turns into a muse, permitting nature and tradition to develop into a part of the narrative,” Zhang says.  

“For instance, this season, by means of every vacation spot’s distinctive landscapes, we unintentionally moved by means of ‘early autumn to mid-autumn to late autumn’ in other places, forming a thematic journey of ‘looking for autumn’.”  

The crew can also be exploring new codecs, reminiscent of occasional visits to the solid members’ hometowns to see how the locals welcome the group. “We additionally wish to discover cities that are not conventional vacationer sizzling spots and showcase hidden gems that supply sudden delights,” Zhang says.  

To assist viewers join extra intently with a metropolis’s previous, Zhang is contemplating utilizing AI to visualise its historical past and tales. The manufacturing crew plans to strengthen collaboration with native cultural tourism departments to discover new concepts collectively and assist drive native tourism growth.  

In any case, the present’s journey does not finish with a last episode; it solely begins when viewers begin their very own.

On the third season of mainstream game-based selection present Pure Excessive, a gaggle of celebrities is delivered to Qiqihar.