The Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou is a comprehensive cultural venue built to commemorate Tang Xianzu, one of the world’s hundred great cultural figures and a master of Ming‑dynasty drama in China. It is also one of Jiangxi Province’s ten major memorial halls dedicated to historical luminaries.

A Decade of Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning! Let the World Hear Fuzhou’s Voice.

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2025-10-25

“What can one do with such a fine day and beautiful scene? Who, in whose courtyard, finds joy that truly delights the heart?” More than four centuries ago, Tang Xianzu penned these timeless lines in Linchuan, erecting a splendid edifice for Chinese classical literature. Today, the International Theatre Exchange Month held in his honor allows this “drama of life” to transcend time, resonating in harmonious dialogue with Shakespeare’s theatrical masterpieces, and continuing to sound the new symphony of mutual learning among civilizations.

In the golden autumn of October, this cultural feast that spans mountains and seas ushers in a new chapter: on October 24, the seventh Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month for 2025 officially opened with great fanfare. Fuzhou, a thousand-year-old city steeped in the art of opera, is drawing upon its profound cultural heritage to carry forward the “Pen of Linchuan,” a legacy that has endured for over a century, onto the world stage.

Looking back on the grand event, a series of splendid chapters have unfolded.

Since 2016, this prestigious event has been steadily elevated year after year, becoming a shining hallmark of Jiangxi—and indeed China’s—cultural exchanges with the outside world.

Looking back on 2016, the grand event took the occasion of jointly commemorating the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Tang Xianzu, William Shakespeare, and Miguel de Cervantes to spark a nationwide and international surge in Tang‑related scholarship. Carrying the distinctive local flavor of Fuzhou, the Xuhe Gaoqiang–Xiangyin–adapted production of “The Four Dreams of Linchuan” was staged in Beijing, marking the first time Xuhe Gaoqiang was performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Meanwhile, Fuzhou officially established a sister-city relationship with Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s hometown in the United Kingdom, forging a solid bridge for in-depth dialogue between Eastern and Western theatrical cultures.

Since then, the festival’s scope has continued to deepen: in 2017, a theatrical parade drew 300,000 spectators, turning art into a celebration shared by all; in 2019, artists from 20 countries gathered in Fuzhou, with 81 domestic and international productions staged in succession, elevating the event from bilateral exchanges to multilateral dialogue; in 2022, “cloud‑based” dialogues and digital platforms carried the voice of theater to the world, showcasing remarkable cultural resilience; and in 2024, Fuzhou further integrated culture and tourism through market‑driven initiatives, with a youth‑oriented version of the tea‑picking opera breaking new ground and establishing sister‑city ties with Spain, Namibia, and other locales, underscoring the city’s growing influence in the global theater community.

Now, this grand event embarks on a new chapter. The 7th Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month in 2025 is themed “A Decade of Cultural Exchanges: Listening to the New Voices of Peonies from Around the World,” and will unfold as a comprehensive cultural festival integrating theatrical performances, academic exchanges, youth dialogues, and film screenings. During the event, the cross-disciplinary play “Tangsha Meets,” an English-language production of “The Peony Pavilion,” and a national showcase of Gaoqiang opera will take center stage; more than 130 public‑access performances will bring over 50 acclaimed productions—including “Mirror, Flower, Water, Moon”—to the public through media channels, truly making it “a celebration of the arts and a festival for the people.”

Each grand event marks a new beginning. With an open and inclusive spirit, Fuzhou is steadily advancing the path of mutual learning among civilizations, enabling this millennial ancient city to shine with its unique splendor on the world stage and helping China’s fine traditional culture to flourish with renewed vitality in the new era.

Using drama as a medium to deepen cultural heritage.

After years of meticulous cultivation, the Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month has transcended the status of an ordinary festival for Fuzhou. Like a vital stream nourishing the city’s very fabric, it permeates the urban cultural landscape, injecting a steady flow of endogenous momentum into the effort to uphold the “Hometown of Master Tang” brand and enhance the city’s cultural soft power.

Anchored in the cultural theme of “Tang Xianzu’s hometown,” Fuzhou has successively completed major projects such as the new Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall and the protective renovation of the Wenchangli historic and cultural district, and has staged acclaimed works including the large-scale immersive production “In Search of Dreams in the Peony Pavilion.” These innovative practices not only make the rich humanistic heritage of this “hometown of talented scholars” visible and tangible, but also inject new vitality into the contemporary transmission of traditional culture—a vivid illustration of the line, “How can the stream be so clear? It is because it is fed by a source of living water.”

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The hosting of successive grand cultural events has markedly bolstered Fuzhou’s cultural confidence and urban appeal, while elevating the aesthetic sensibilities and cultural literacy of its residents. On Wenchangli Old Street, amateur opera enthusiasts often gather to sing in harmony; with the graceful flutter of their water sleeves, the rich, lingering charm of Xuhé Gaoqiang resonates through the air. In schools, children, guided by inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, learn to perform tea‑picking opera, mastering each measure and rhythm until they truly grasp its essence. And at the square’s stage, the seats are always packed, with performances by folk opera troupes so sought after that tickets are hard to come by. Watching operas, learning them, and discussing them have become woven into the very fabric of daily life, a distinctive way of living unique to the people of Fuzhou.

Moreover, Fuzhou has used the arts as a bridge, engaging in pragmatic cooperation with international sister cities such as Stratford-upon-Avon in the United Kingdom—the birthplace of Shakespeare—and Alcalá de Henares in Spain—the hometown of Cervantes. Through these exchanges, Fuzhou not only demonstrates a broad-minded openness to the world while remaining grounded in the present, but also transforms this confidence—nurtured in a rich cultural heritage—into a valuable asset for driving the city’s high-quality development.

Digital Intelligence Empowers, Industries Thrive

Leveraging the prestigious “Hometown of Tang Xianzu” brand, our city is harnessing digital intelligence as a driving force to foster deep integration between the cultural and tourism sectors. This industry transformation—empowered by data and shaped by culture—has breathed new life into Tang Xianzu’s “Four Dreams of Linchuan,” bringing them vibrantly to the forefront of the modern era.

During the recently concluded National Day–Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Fuzhou’s cultural and tourism market thrived. As a key hub for Tang Xianzu’s theatrical heritage, the Wenchangli Historical and Cultural District welcomed a cumulative 1.0378 million visitors, cementing its status as a popular destination for experiencing Linchuan culture. These impressive figures represent a vivid continuation of the city’s overall tourism spending, which grew 8.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, underscoring the robust momentum of the cultural and tourism sector.

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Behind the impressive performance figures lies the robust support of digital and intelligent technologies. Currently, key scenic spots across the city have largely completed the deployment of smart tour‑guide systems, offering visitors a more convenient and tech‑savvy experience. From January to May this year, the city counted 141 large‑scale digital‑intelligence cultural enterprises, generating 4.012 billion yuan in revenue—a 12% year‑on‑year increase, outpacing the provincial average. In terms of industrial development, the city is currently negotiating 46 digital‑intelligence cultural‑tourism projects, with 36 already signed and 26 under construction, creating a well‑structured, phased rollout.

Across the city, innovative initiatives are flourishing: Linchuan District has launched the “One Phone to Explore Linchuan” platform, fostering a new smart‑consumption ecosystem; Nanfeng County has integrated honey oranges and Nuo dance into immersive nighttime tours; and Jinxi County is using digital technologies to bring the charm of ancient villages back to life. These efforts are breathing new vitality into traditional culture in the digital age, enriching and diversifying the tourism experience.

Today, the world of profound emotion brought to life by Tang Xianzu is being fully reimagined—bathed in the light of technology—through the landscapes, waters, and alleyways of Fuzhou. The “Peony Pavilion,” celebrated for more than four centuries, is now transcending time and space, transforming into a contemporary voice that drives the high‑quality development of the cultural‑tourism sector. A grand “New Dream of Linchuan,” bridging past and present, has already unfolded on this vibrant land.

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Editor: Deng Chao | Article Source: Fuzhou Release

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