On September 24, 2025, Dai Bin, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the China Tourism Academy, published a signed article titled "The Palace Museum: A Model for Deep Integration of Culture and Tourism" in the People's Forum. The article argues that the Palace Museum, with a deep sense of historical awareness and cultural confidence, has pioneered the direction and paradigm of deep integration of culture and tourism both theoretically and practically, becoming a landmark innovator in this process. The full article is available below: [Abstract] Promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism is a strategic plan of the Party and the State. It is a practical requirement for building high-quality cultural heritage sites and promoting high-quality tourism development, and it is also a key channel for meeting the people's growing needs for a better life. The Palace Museum's efforts in theoretical construction and practical exploration of cultural and tourism integration have been highly recognized by the cultural heritage and tourism communities and garnered greater expectations from all sectors of society and the general public. Over the next five years, culture and tourism must be integrated and developed at a deeper, broader, and higher level, with further strengthening of ideological and theoretical development, talent cultivation, industry participation, and broader international exchanges.

【Key words】Cultural tourism integration, The Palace Museum, “15th Five-Year Plan” 【Chinese Library Classification Number】G12 【Document Identification Code】A

Promoting the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. It is of great significance for meeting the people's needs for a better life, empowering economic and social development, and building a culturally and tourism-strong nation. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized: "Adhere to the principle of using culture to shape tourism and using tourism to promote culture, and promote the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism." In recent years, with a deep sense of historical awareness and cultural confidence, the Palace Museum has established itself as one of its "four major visions" for development: to become a world-class museum, a model for the preservation of world cultural heritage, a leader in the integration of culture and tourism, and a Chinese cultural living room for exchange and mutual learning among civilizations. This has led the direction and paradigm of cultural and tourism integration in practice, becoming a landmark innovator in my country's efforts to promote cultural and tourism integration.

From original concepts to scientific theories, systematically explain the goal-oriented development of the integration of culture and tourism

Culture is the soul of a country and a nation, and its prosperity is inextricably linked to the future and destiny of the nation and its people. General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued a series of important instructions on promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism. In September 2020, at a symposium with representatives of experts in the fields of education, culture, health, and sports, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the cultural and tourism industries are inextricably linked. We must adhere to the principle of using culture to shape tourism and tourism to promote culture, promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism so that people can appreciate the beauty of culture and cultivate their souls while appreciating the beauty of nature. In May 2020, during his inspection tour in Shanxi, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that tourism development must be based on protection and must avoid excessive commercialization. Tourism should become a process for people to appreciate Chinese culture and enhance their cultural confidence. We must deeply explore the historical significance of the Yungang Grottoes, which embodies the exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups, and enhance the sense of community of the Chinese nation. In July 2022, during his inspection tour in Xinjiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to properly balance economic and social development with ecological and environmental protection, promote the integrated development of culture and tourism, and create industries that enrich the people. In October 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping, at a symposium on further promoting high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, emphasized the need to actively promote the in-depth integration of culture and tourism, develop a number of riverside cities, small towns, and beautiful villages with distinctive natural landscapes and historical and cultural heritage, and create the Yangtze River Golden International Tourism Belt. In May 2025, during his inspection tour in Henan, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the broad prospects for the integration of culture and tourism, emphasizing the need to promote high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industries and truly develop them into pillar industries, industries that enhance people's livelihoods, and industries that bring happiness to people. General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and instructions on the integration of culture and tourism have charted the course and clarified the path for cultural undertakings, cultural industries, and tourism in the new era, as well as for the Palace Museum's work in cultural relic preservation, cultural heritage, and tourism.

In February 2018, the Third Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions" and the "Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions," establishing the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to promote the integrated development of cultural undertakings, cultural industries, and the tourism industry. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed "promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism." The report of the 20th CPC National Congress emphasized "persisting in shaping tourism through culture and promoting culture through tourism, and promoting the in-depth integrated development of culture and tourism." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee adopted the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Deepening Reform in All Aspects and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization," focusing on building a strong socialist cultural nation and proposing "improving the systems and mechanisms for the in-depth integrated development of culture and tourism." These central documents, reflecting the will of the entire Party, have fostered broad consensus on the integration of culture and tourism, fostering a social synergy through national laws, administrative regulations, development plans, policy documents, standards, and democratic oversight.

In March 2018, the "Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of All-Area Tourism" stated that "we should scientifically utilize traditional villages, cultural relics, and cultural venues such as museums, memorial halls, art galleries, world cultural heritage sites, and intangible cultural heritage exhibition halls to develop cultural and heritage tourism, and promote the integration of industries such as theater, performing arts, amusement, and animation with the tourism industry to develop cultural experience tourism." In August 2019, the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Further Stimulating the Consumption Potential of Culture and Tourism" stated that "we should promote the integration of culture, tourism, and modern technology, and develop a new generation of immersive and experiential cultural and tourism consumption content based on technologies such as 5G, ultra-high definition, augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence." In 2021, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Tourism Development," which systematically planned and specifically deployed the integration of culture and tourism, guided by the principle of "shaping tourism with culture and promoting culture with tourism." Since 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and other ministries and commissions have intensively issued documents and standards to cultivate cultural heritage-themed tourist routes, promote the in-depth integration of intangible cultural heritage and tourism, and integrate public cultural services with public tourism services.

As a direct subsidiary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Palace Museum's vision is to become a world-class museum, a model for the preservation of world cultural heritage, a leader in the integration of culture and tourism, and a welcoming hall for Chinese culture, fostering exchange and mutual learning among civilizations. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Palace Museum has integrated the concept of cultural and tourism integration, exemplified by the slogans "A Safe Palace Museum, an Academic Palace Museum, a Digital Palace Museum, and a Vibrant Palace Museum," into its medium- and long-term development plans, annual work plans, and daily operations. Striving to balance the safety of cultural relics with the visitor experience, the Palace Museum announced on May 17, 2015, a trial implementation of a daily admission limit of 80,000 people. The North Campus of the Palace Museum has been designated a major cultural facility in the country's 14th Five-Year Plan and a key project in Beijing's efforts to develop itself into a center for international exchange. The Palace Museum is implementing the Global Civilizations Initiative and hosting exhibitions on cultural relics and archaeological cooperation along the Belt and Road Initiative. The Hong Kong Palace Museum has become a window for international cultural exchange and a destination for urban tourism. Monitoring data and public feedback indicate that the integration of culture and tourism has effectively driven the innovative development of the Palace Museum's various initiatives.

From government promotion to social participation, the operating entities of the integrated development of culture and tourism are gradually clarified.

The integration of culture and tourism requires top-level design and promotion, supporting policies, and collaboration between government and enterprises. Furthermore, it requires conscious theoretical development and practical exploration by cultural and tourism institutions. Within this multi-link, multi-subject, and multi-element promotion system, leading cultural and museum venues like the Palace Museum and leading travel agencies like China Travel Service undoubtedly play a key role. Without the recognition, participation, and collaborative efforts of cultural and museum institutions and tourism operators, the integrated development of culture and tourism cannot move from concept and theory to practice, let alone deep integration. On the path of cultural development, diverse business entities are coming together. Cultural institutions and tourism enterprises empower each other, recognizing both the role of culture in guiding tourism's development and the market power that tourism provides to culture. In this process, business operators play a key role and exert a positive influence.

From national will and government promotion to market practice, the integration of culture and tourism is increasingly manifested in the fusion of high-quality cultural resources and high-quality tourism market demand. "Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" has been a long-standing Chinese tradition. For example, the life journeys of Li Bai, Su Shi, and Xu Xiake, as well as the people's tourism, have always been integrated with self-cultivation. Whether it's the Three Mountains and Five Peaks, Huangshan and the Yellow River, or the four famous towers, famous cities and ancient towns, or historical sites in the frontier, it's never simply the natural scenery that attracts visitors, but rather the historical and cultural heritage they carry and the contemporary cultural values ​​they embody. Today, tourism has become a widely participated way of life, a means of learning, and a means of growth. Tourism is increasingly becoming a pillar industry, an industry that supports people's livelihoods, and an industry that brings happiness. Culture and tourism are integrating and developing at a deeper, broader, and higher level.

With a deep sense of historical awareness and cultural confidence, the Palace Museum has set its vision of building a world-class museum as its development goal. In practice, it has set a new direction and paradigm for the integration of culture and tourism, becoming a landmark innovator in this process. ⑥ Market awareness is coupled with the development of cutting-edge projects and products to effectively tell the story of the Palace Museum in the new era and attract more visitors to experience its culture. Therefore, it is important to deepen research on cultural relics and publish research findings to cultivate the cultural image of an "academic Palace Museum." Leveraging national key R&D programs and major national research projects, the Palace Museum is steadily advancing the construction of the China-Greece Joint Laboratory for Cultural Relics Conservation Technology under the Belt and Road Initiative. While addressing technical bottlenecks in large-scale cultural relic restoration and risk prevention and control for ancient buildings, the museum is reshaping the contemporary value of traditional crafts through the study of "undiscovered and unique" techniques. The museum is promoting the deep integration of cultural IP development and academic resources, securing support from the Beijing Art Fund for the production of a play titled "The Southern Migration of Cultural Relics from the Palace Museum," launching short educational films based on the "Ancient Characters Project," and utilizing digital twin technology to enhance the Palace Museum's immersive services. Through talent support projects such as the "Talent Program" and the "Taihe Scholars Program", we will steadily build a cultural and museum discipline system, academic system and discourse system with both Chinese characteristics and global influence, and continuously enhance the tourism market appeal of world-class museums.

We must study and implement Xi Jinping's thoughts on culture and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on tourism. With a deep sense of historical awareness and cultural confidence, we will promote the deep integration of cultural and historical relics institutions, museums, and tourism market operators. We will also promote collaboration with new media outlets and innovate modern expressions of traditional culture. Cultural relics institutions and museums are primarily guardians and inheritors of China's fine traditional culture, not market panders or market followers. Only by allowing more people to understand, visit, experience, and promote the Forbidden City can we steadily expand demand for the integration of culture and tourism. If we lose this foundation and core value, and become lost in the wave of internet celebrities and viral successes, the integration of culture and tourism will lose its cultural foundation. The Palace Museum adheres to upholding its core values ​​while innovating. Based on deeply exploring the essence of China's fine traditional culture embodied in the Forbidden City, it strengthens collaboration with cultural performance organizations and mass media. It has launched television programs and stage plays such as "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City," "New Arrivals at the Forbidden City," "Only This Green," "Cat God in the Forbidden City," and "Lu Duan" to promote and explain the cultural connotations and contemporary value of cultural relics. The Palace Museum adheres to official ticket sales channels and systematically promotes partnerships with travel agencies, online travel platforms, and other entities. In 2020, Beijing's Dongcheng District launched the "East of the Forbidden City, A Feeling of Home" promotional campaign. China Travel Service developed and launched a number of culturally themed tour routes and experience programs, providing a viable market path for the Palace Museum's cultural empowerment of local tourism. The Palace Museum's openness and sharing, coupled with the collaborative efforts of travel agencies and online travel platforms, further stimulate market-driven creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, continuously expanding new areas for the integration of culture and tourism and steadily elevating this integration to new heights.

From theoretical construction to practical exploration, we will continue to expand the innovative space for the integrated development of culture and tourism

Xi Jinping's cultural thought provides fundamental guidance for the integration of culture and tourism. We must firmly grasp the direction of advanced socialist culture and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China's fine traditional culture, bringing to life the heritage displayed across China, the artifacts housed in museums, and the texts written in ancient books. In China's modernization process, the importance of spiritual enjoyment and cultural consumption for a better life is becoming increasingly prominent, and tourism is becoming a rigid demand for both urban and rural residents. The China Tourism Academy's special monitoring data and word frequency analysis of the Palace Museum show that keywords related to knowledge learning and cultural experience, such as "history," "culture," "knowledge," "explanation," and "story," accounted for only 26.4% of review words in 2015. After a decade of steady growth, this figure reached 68.5% in the first half of 2025. This data indicates that contemporary tourists are showing a strong interest in historical knowledge and cultural experiences, and are no longer content with superficial sightseeing and photo-taking.

General Secretary Xi Jinping's important remarks on tourism have charted a path for the integration of culture and tourism. Tourism serves as a bridge for spreading civilization, exchanging culture, and fostering friendship, and is a key indicator of improved living standards. For the Chinese, tourism is a way of life, but also a way of learning and growth. In visitor reviews of the Palace Museum, the proportion of "parent-child" and "study tours" was only 6.6% in 2015, but this rose to 15.0% in the first half of 2025. This data reflects the "anti-involution" trend in education and a return to the concept of "scholarly study and travel for family, country, and the world." Tourism development requires ideological guidance, the creation of spatial settings, and the support of project products and services. Over the past two years, negative reviews of the Palace Museum by visitors have seen a temporary increase, citing issues such as difficulty in making reservations, difficulty securing tickets, long queues, and inconvenient luggage storage. With the increasing effectiveness of facilitation measures such as online reservations, on-site ticket purchases, and luggage storage, visitor satisfaction has rebounded significantly. In the vast majority of cases, visitors grasp the beauty of culture through embodied on-site experiences. Inbound tourists' comments mostly focus on the palace's rich history, magnificent architecture, and profound culture. For example, one foreign visitor commented, "This was the imperial palace from the early 15th century to the end of the last dynasty in the early 20th century. It's been through a lot: burning, reconstruction, and so on, yet many parts are still original. It's amazing!" "It's an amazing building, part of a very ancient society, and well worth a visit."

China's fine traditional culture is an inexhaustible resource for the integration of culture and tourism. However, traditional culture does not automatically transform into a tourism resource, much less a tourism product. The ideas, literature, art, and architectural artifacts that embody traditional culture have historically served specific functions, ranging from sacrificial gifts and national symbols to production tools and daily necessities. Ritual vessels dedicated to heaven, earth, and spirits shaped religious order; the Nine Cauldrons, a symbol of royal authority, asserted the legitimacy of rule; and agricultural implements sustained the survival of clan-based societies. These functions, like the lifeblood of these artifacts, imbue them with a vibrant social life. With the evolution and progress of history, the traditional functions attached to these artifacts have gradually disappeared or weakened. Yi artifacts from ancestral temples have become art specimens in exhibition halls, and agricultural atlases have become mere footnotes in ancient texts. While their historical and aesthetic value has been meticulously preserved by museums, they have become distant cultural symbols in the contemporary public's perception. Once cultural relics lose their traditional functions and are not given new ones, they can easily become specimens, stored in museums and recorded in ancient books. While they retain their historical, cultural, and aesthetic value, their contemporary audience will be greatly reduced. This requires us to promote and revitalize them through means such as tourism, so as to achieve the creative transformation and innovative development of China's fine traditional culture.

The Qing Dynasty's "Imperially Decreed Regulations of the Ministry of Works," treasured and studied by the Palace Museum, hints at this possibility. As the historical political center and imperial residence, the Forbidden City's research on color classification and differential order represented the highest level of sophistication at the time. The "bright yellow" and "stone blue" colors, once strictly distinguishing between noble and humble, were originally tools for upholding feudal rituals. Today, these dormant hues are finding new life in modern textiles and digital design—designers are using "Forbidden City Red" to create fashion, and urban planners are drawing on "Taihe Hall Gray" to develop standards for the restoration of ancient buildings. Today, the Forbidden City offers more than just its palaces, pavilions, and scenic spaces; it also showcases its profound value: it deciphers the technological and aesthetic codes preserved within its cultural relics, stimulating innovation and revitalizing traditional functions in modern production and life.

From evaluation dimensions to data monitoring, a systematic indicator system for the integration of culture and tourism is constructed

Cultural development and tourism development are both for the betterment of the people. Tourists and visitors have the most say in how well culture and tourism are integrated. Tracking and monitoring the reception data, satisfaction, and changes in cultural and museum venues and tourist attractions are key indicators for measuring the degree of integration between culture and tourism. As cultural heritage sites and study and experience spaces that carry common human values, cultural and museum venues should be open rather than closed cultural spaces, and should also be shared rather than exclusive tourist destinations. As a high-quality tourist attraction, the Palace Museum adapts to the requirements of the times for the comprehensive development of mass tourism. While ensuring the protection of cultural relics and cultural heritage, it also meets the diverse sightseeing and study needs of tourists from home and abroad to the greatest extent possible.

Over the past nine years, the Palace Museum has seen visitor numbers increase from 16.019 million in 2016 to 17.624 million in 2024. In the first half of 2025, the museum received 9.035 million visitors, a 14.7% increase over the same period in 2024. Notably, since 2016, the Palace Museum has welcomed 8.04 million international visitors, and its popularity continues to grow. In 2022, the Hong Kong Palace Museum opened, becoming a new cultural landmark in Hong Kong and a destination for international visitors to experience Chinese culture. To meet the growing demand for children and young visitors, the Palace Museum has implemented ticket reductions and exemptions for visitors of corresponding age groups, maximizing the public's desire to visit the Palace Museum and experience its culture. According to monitoring data from the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), domestic visitor satisfaction at the Palace Museum has maintained a fluctuating upward trend, reaching a peak of 90.01 points in 2025. Inbound visitor satisfaction has also generally continued to rise, reaching 87.38 points in the first half of 2025, steadily achieving the development goal of satisfying and benefiting the people.

The market and businesses are most sensitive to the integration of culture and tourism. Businesses gain developmental appeal and new momentum through culture, and they are also drivers of cultural creation and the evolution of civilization. The integration of culture and tourism requires mobilizing the enthusiasm of investment institutions and business entities, while also prioritizing the sense of gain for investors, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. From 2015 to 2024, 124 themed exhibitions, 258 domestic loan exhibitions, and 58 international exhibitions were held within the Palace Museum. The "Return of Imperial Porcelain" themed exhibition in Nanchang sparked a wave of visitors, significantly boosting local and interprovincial tourism. In 2017, the single exhibition "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains: A Special Exhibition of Blue-Green Landscape Paintings from Past Dynasties" attracted 440,000 visitors. In 2019, the "Celebrating the New Year and Welcoming Good Fortune: Celebrating the Lunar New Year in the Forbidden City," featuring a record-breaking display of nearly 1,000 cultural relics, attracted 1.5 million visitors, highlighting the appeal of festive culture. The 2024 exhibition "The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles - Sino-French Exchanges in the 17th and 18th Centuries" will present a three-dimensional history of in-depth dialogue between civilizations through the interaction of court treasures from both countries.

Looking towards the 15th Five-Year Plan, we will continue to explore the future direction of the in-depth integration of culture and tourism

We must strengthen theoretical development, build an "Academic Palace Museum," and promote deeper integration and development of culture and tourism. Without outstanding works and high-quality products, the fruits of cultural and tourism integration cannot be felt by the public. Without academic construction and systematic interpretation, practical innovations in cultural and tourism integration cannot effectively respond to international and domestic concerns about the Palace Museum. Over the past decade, the Palace Museum has achieved significant success in cultural creativity and market promotion, building a wealth of valuable experience. Over the next five to ten years, guided by Xi Jinping's cultural thought, we must systematically review, summarize, and research the achievements and experiences of cultural construction and tourism development over the past century. We must develop original concepts and fundamental theories for themed tourism with Chinese characteristics, including museum tourism, heritage tourism, and study tours. We will contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to the integration of culture and tourism worldwide and provide solid theoretical support for the development of world-class tourist attractions with profound cultural heritage. We must strive for high-level major projects in philosophy and social sciences, publish and disseminate a number of high-quality, landmark theoretical findings, and establish the high-quality disciplinary, academic, and discourse systems necessary for the integration of culture and tourism. Jointly train high-level theoretical workers such as doctors and post-doctoral fellows, and high-level cultural relics and literary and art workers to form the talent base for the deep integration of culture and tourism.

Strengthening its public nature, creating a "Cultural Forbidden City" will promote the integrated development of culture and tourism on a wider scale. As a treasure trove of civilization housing 1.95 million cultural relics, the Forbidden City's value far exceeds what its physical space can capture. The intense demand for tickets reflects the public's eagerness to see this spiritual landmark of Chinese civilization integrated into people's lives. A city's historical relics are fluid organisms. To restore the Forbidden City to the urban fabric, it is necessary to break down the boundaries of the palace walls, make the relics palpable, and allow culture to permeate daily life. Within the "one core, one city, three belts, and two districts" framework for Beijing's development into a national cultural center, the Forbidden City is the core engine that activates the overall protection of the old city. A city's historical relics, cultural relics, and humanistic heritage are part of its very life. Reshaping the public attributes of the Forbidden City requires domestic and international expansion. For example, using "East of the Forbidden City" as a fulcrum to achieve regional linkage, implanting the Forbidden City IP into the Wangfujing Cultural and Creative District, Longfu Temple Art Space, and Qianmen Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop, and setting up a "Micro Forbidden City" digital exhibition hall in the business district, allowing citizens and tourists to encounter the green light and shadow of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains and listen to the ticking echoes of the clocks in the Hall of Mental Cultivation while shopping and relaxing; relying on the Capital Airport to build a "Cultural National Gate" and the Dongcheng Cultural Free Trade Zone and other platforms, promote the Forbidden City's color spectrum, dragon totem and other elements into a global design language, build a bridge for dialogue among civilizations, and transform cultural heritage from a solemn palace into a breathable urban memory.

Strengthen the application of science and technology, create a "Digital Forbidden City," and promote the integrated development of culture and tourism at a higher level. The integration of culture and tourism requires not only the preservation of cultural heritage, allowing visitors to see it, but also innovation, allowing visitors to experience the future of civilization. The industrial revolution, scientific and technological progress, and cultural creation have always been mutually reinforcing. From the World Expo in the steam age to the immersive exhibition halls of the information age, technology has always been a catalyst for cultural dissemination. The digital expression of China's fine traditional culture is the only way to create a "Safe Forbidden City, Academic Forbidden City, Digital Forbidden City, and Vibrant Forbidden City." The Palace Museum's "Digital Cultural Relics Library," launched in 2019, has released high-definition data on 104,000 treasures. This is not only an upgrade in cultural display technology, but also a modern translation of cultural genes.

Guided by the people's satisfaction and benefits, we will build a "People's Palace Museum" to ensure greater satisfaction and fulfillment in the integrated development of culture and tourism. The Palace Museum carries the nation's cultural mission and also meets the people's tourism needs. The success of a cultural heritage tourist attraction has always been determined by the attentive service provided to specific groups such as the elderly, minors, and the disabled, rather than the exclusive care provided to VIPs. It is in this sense that we have proposed the new concept of inclusive tourism, hoping that cultural construction and tourism development in the new era can benefit the broadest possible range of people. In the future, the Palace Museum will welcome more foreign dignitaries and representatives from the business, scientific, and cultural sectors. We will also focus on promoting the concept of inclusive tourism and innovating its practices, paying closer attention to the needs of ordinary tourists, including but not limited to more convenient ticket reservations, higher-quality tourism services, and richer cultural experiences.

We should strengthen global cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation, build a "World Forbidden City," and promote the wider impact of cultural and tourism development. With the successful application of the Western Xia Tombs for World Heritage status on July 11, 2025, my country's World Heritage count has reached 60. More World Heritage sites mean greater responsibility for cultural inheritance and civilizational creation. With the continued growth of the tourism market, the tourism industry has entered a new cycle of prosperity and development. As the world's largest domestic tourism market, a source of outbound tourists, and a major inbound tourism destination, China has even greater room for the integration of culture and tourism. How can the millennial dream of "reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" become a reality? How can tourists truly appreciate the beauty of nature while also appreciating the beauty of culture and cultivating their souls? How can we truly "use culture to shape tourism, and use tourism to promote culture" to promote high-quality development of cultural tourism? How can we effectively improve visitor satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and the engagement of cities and communities in museums, tourist attractions, and cultural heritage sites? These require joint consultation, construction and sharing among cultural and museum institutions, tourism companies and all sectors of society in countries around the world, especially the conscious theoretical construction, practical innovation and open sharing of world-class museums like the Forbidden City, which are landmarks of human civilization.

【Notes】

① “Let’s Journey to Poetry and Distant Places! A Report on the New World of Cultural and Tourism Integration,” Chinese Government Website, September 10, 2025.

② “Xi Jinping stressed during his inspection tour in Shanxi that we must build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and seize the opportunity to write a new chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era,” People’s Daily Online, May 12, 2020.

③ "Supporting and serving China's modernization with the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt - General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the symposium on further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has aroused enthusiastic response", CCTV.com, October 14, 2023.

④See "The 14th Five-Year Plan for Tourism Development of the People's Republic of China", Beijing: China Tourism Press, 2021.

⑤ “Deepen reforms in the fields of culture and tourism and accelerate the construction of a socialist cultural power – Interview with Sun Yeli, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism,” People’s Daily, September 2, 2024.

⑥Wang Xudong, “The Path of Implementing the Global Civilization Initiative of Centennial Museums,” China Daily, March 14, 2025.

⑦ Dai Bin: "On the Integration of Culture and Tourism", Beijing: Commercial Press, 2025.

Author | Dai Bin

Editor | Liu Xin

Source | People's Forum, Issue 18, 2025

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