Small-town stages make a big noise
China’s lower-tier cities enjoy performing arts boom as visits by top music stars help spur tourism, enliven cultural scene
In ancient times, Quzhou, a city in the western part of Zhejiang province, was known as a center for spreading Confucianism. However, with time it lost its significance, and some people cannot even pronounce the city’s name correctly, as the first character, qu, is written in a complicated way.
Quzhou, which boasts a population of about 2.27 million, has become one of the most popular tourism destinations for young Chinese this year, thanks to the powerful impact of pop stars, who have added the city to their performance schedules.
In March, singer-songwriter Xue Zhiqian staged two concerts at the Quzhou Sports Center, which was designed by architect Ma Yansong, and has a capacity of more than 30,000 people. Hotels in the city reported record-setting occupancy levels, even though they raised their room rates due to the surge in demand.
Gu Lili, 25, a fan of Xue, traveled to Quzhou from Ningbo, Zhejiang, to watch one of the concerts, which she described as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the performer live on stage.
“I woke up early in the morning and spent four-and-a-half hours on a train traveling to Quzhou, which I had never visited before,” Gu said, adding that Xue’s concert was the first she had attended in more than three years.
“My best friend traveled from Chongqing to Quzhou to watch the concert with me. We had a great time. There were so many people traveling from different parts of the country to watch
the performances, and I saw numerous fans come to the show with their luggage,” Gu said.
“It was raining and cold that day, but when the concert ended, the audience members were extremely happy and excited as they discussed the show while leaving the venue.”
Xue, who has more than 57 million followers on Sina Weibo, said: “I performed in Quzhou for the first time, and the city brought me many surprises. Although it was very cold due to the rain, I felt the warmth of the city and the fans.”
A report released by the China Association of Performing Arts on Nov 30 said the number of fans traveling across the country to watch live performances, both indoors and outdoors, reached about 111 million in the first three quarters of this year, exceeding the figure for 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.
Some 68,900 live performances were staged nationwide in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year rise of 183.5 percent. In the second quarter, the figure reached 124,400, a rise of 713.1 percent compared with the same period last year, while in the third quarter, 149,100 live performances took place in China, up 577.7 percent year-on-year.
The nation’s booming performing arts scene has also helped promote tourism, the report said. Large cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, are no strangers to pop stars drawing up tour plans. However, this year, a handful of third-tier and lowertier cities were also included in artists’ schedules.
Gong Xiaofeng, head of the Quzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism
Bureau’s Tourism Development Center, said, “Previously, the city didn’t hold that many major cultural events, and frankly we were concerned when we heard that Xue Zhiqian was going to perform two concerts in Quzhou.
“We had never had big stars like him appear here, so we started preparing for the concerts more than a year in advance, as the schedule changed several times.
“The local government even launched a new department to organize and coordinate major cultural events by gathering staff members from different departments, including traffic and security. This was a great opportunity for us to display the city’s culture and history to attract more visitors. It was also a great challenge in every respect, with a large number of people flocking to Quzhou.”
Xue’s concerts attracted 56,000 fans, including 46,000 from outside Quzhou. The city is located close to the borders of four provinces — Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Anhui. Fans traveling to watch the concerts mainly came from the Zhejiang cities of Hangzhou, Jinhua, Ningbo, and Shaoxing, data from the new Quzhou government department — the Major Sports and Cultural Projects Promotion Office — showed.
Fans in the 18-30 age bracket comprised about 86 percent of audience members.
Since March, Quzhou has also staged
concerts by other pop stars, including Jeff Chang and Alex To, along with music festivals and galas featuring singers such as Li Yuchun and Pu Shu.
Gong said, “We provided additional
buses and shared bikes for fans attending large concerts, and performance venues laid out shuttle buses for fans, making their travel arrangements much easier.”
The concerts brought huge economic benefits to the local government in Quzhou, which made every effort to introduce additional attractions for visitors.
For example, booths selling local food were set up outside the performance venues. The Quzhou tourism department also allowed fans to visit some destinations for free, on condition that they showed their concert tickets.
During March 17-19, more than 100,000 visitors arrived in Quzhou, with over 40,000 flocking to leading tourism destinations. The sudden influx resulted in revenue of 124 million yuan ($17.3 million) for the three days, including more than 11 million yuan for hotels.
Gong said the Songyuan Food Market in Quzhou went viral on social media platforms, with many young fans visiting it to sample local dishes, especially breakfast.
“We were very excited to see many young people coming to Quzhou, not only to watch their favorite pop singers, but also to visit our tour destinations,” Gong said.
Local destinations, including the Confucian temple — one of three such temples in China that boast a history of more than 700 years — and the Shuitingmen (water and pavilion gate) historical and cultural block, a major national-level scenic spot that opened to the public in September 2016, proved particularly popular with visitors.
Gong said Shuitingmen is a pedestrian street, mainly visited by locals for recreational purposes. After it became a popular new tour destination, the local authorities launched an area where music lovers can perform for fun. This area also attracts many young visitors.
Zhou Fajun, whose company is headquartered in Quzhou and has organized concerts by singer-songwriter Wang Sulong and pop star Cyndi Wang, said: “Leading stars frequently visit bigger cities to perform, either at music festivals or in solo concerts. For smaller and less-known cities such as Quzhou, this year was the first time they had hosted performances by so many major stars.
“There were two main concerns for us — ticket sales and security, but thanks to support from the local government, everything went smoothly. Although we encountered many problems, we gained experience and learned from it. The concerts were almost sold out, and reviews from the fans were great. We will use this experience as a long-term project to attract more leading stars to Quzhou.”
In addition to Quzhou, many other smaller cities staged performances by artists this year. For example, Taiwan pop icon Jay Chou’s concerts in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which took place from Aug 17-20, attracted about 180,000 fans, with 70 percent of them coming from cities outside Hohhot.
From Oct 1-3, the Frenzy Motorcycle Music Festival, an outdoor event, was held in Handan city, Hebei province, about 430 kilometers from Beijing. About 30 groups and stars performed at the festival, including pop singers Li Ronghao, Li Yuchun, and Zhang Jie.
Li Yuchun, a pop singer-songwriter with more than 16 million followers on Sina Weibo, performed at the festival to cheers and applause from fans.
“It was the first time I had been to Handan. When I arrived at the airport, I saw many fans. I also enjoyed the local food, which is very tasty. My colleagues went to a food market … and were impressed by the vitality of the city. I am happy to perform here and I will return to give more concerts,” Li Yuchun said.
A fan wishing to be identified only as Bohe, who was born and raised in Handan and now lives and works in Beijing, said: “When I learned Li Yuchun was going to perform at the music festival in Handan, I couldn’t believe it, because my hometown had never hosted such a big music event that featured so many pop stars.”
She added that Handan is known as an industrial city that is far off the tourist trail.
“I am a big fan of Li Yuchun, so I bought tickets for the festival. Some of my friends went to the event, which was the most discussed subject among us during the National Day holiday,” Bohe said.
Pan Yan, secretary-general of the China Association of Performing Arts, said demand for concerts has risen this year, not only due to the high expectations of fans but also because many performances were rescheduled after being canceled during the pandemic.
With concerts featuring leading stars quickly selling out, venues in larger cities were booked more than a year ago. For example, one of the biggest performance venues in Beijing, the Wukesong Arena, also known as the Cadillac Arena, had been booked by artists until August.
“People first started traveling in numbers to see concerts in 2017, and from 2021, performances given by pop artists started to be held in smaller cities,” Pan said.
One reason that artists hold concerts in smaller cities is that local authorities see the far-reaching influence of these stars, even after performances have been staged.
“Many smaller cities are now going a step further in creating an unforgettable experience for fans, such as staging pre-concert events and offering supporting services,” Pan said.
Such cities have launched new areas for the performing arts this year — some of which have been transformed from old buildings or industrial complexes to target young fans.
In the first half year of this year, more than 100,000 performances were staged in these new areas, attracting over 8 million people.
With the performing arts market picking up quickly, problems have emerged. For example, due to scalpers, many fans complained of having a bad experience trying to buy tickets as prices soared. Fans also complained about some venues, which despite high ticket prices, did not provide the audience a good view of the stage.
For example, fans voicing their disappointment with rock singer-songwriter Wu Bai’s concerts on Nov 24 and 25 in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, made headlines.
On Nov 25, one fan posted a complaint online, saying it was difficult to get a view of the stage even though he paid the highest price of 1,280 yuan for a ticket to the VIP area. Other fans also shared their disappointment online about an obstructed view.
On Nov 26, the organizer of the concerts, a cultural company based in Hefei, released a statement, saying it was attempting to compensate fans who had an obstructed view of Wu’s concerts.