Visitors are all attracted by the intangible cultural heritage items. [Photo/Cross-Strait (Xiamen) Cultural Industries Fair]

On Oct 31, the 15th Cross-Strait (Xiamen) Cultural Industries Fair (hereinafter referred to as the Cultural Industries Fair), featuring the theme "Inheritance and Innovation", opened in Xiamen. 

Adopting the "2+3+N" exhibition model, the fair features two comprehensive thematic exhibition areas, namely the Comprehensive Achievements Exhibition of Cultural Industries and the City Impression Theme Exhibition, as well as three specialized exhibition areas, including the Cross-Strait Cultural and Creative IP Licensing Exhibition, the University Design Exhibition, and the Fine Arts and Crafts Exhibition. It focuses on cross-Strait interaction, intangible cultural heritage preservation, and digital innovation, comprehensively showcasing the development trends of the cultural industry and the achievements of cross-Strait cultural exchanges.

A visitor takes beautiful photos of the exhibits. [Photo/Cross-Strait (Xiamen) Cultural Industries Fair]

The fair highlights new faces and new forces, with nine thematic pavilions, including the Taiwan County and City Pavilions and Master Craft Pavilion, gathering nearly 200 Taiwan enterprises and over 100 master craftspeople.

The Craft Culture Exhibition Area gathers more than 50 artisans and intangible cultural heritage practitioners, displaying works with Taiwan characteristics such as ceramic crafts and lacquer crafts. The Youth Creativity Exhibition Area provides a platform for young people from both sides of the Strait to exchange ideas and share experiences through activities such as the Cross-Strait University Design Exhibition and the Youth Cultural and Creative Salon.

To facilitate transaction matchmaking, the fair is hosting the Cross-Strait Cultural and Creative IP Licensing Exhibition for the first time, inviting more than 20 museum institutions to participate and holding related exchange activities to help Xiamen build a cultural and creative IP trading center. Meanwhile, a project attraction platform has been established to enhance the effectiveness of matchmaking and transactions.

Digital and intellectual empowerment is another highlight of this year's fair. The fair focuses on technology empowering the cultural tourism industry, showcasing the innovative application achievements of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse in the cultural field. Expert think tanks and cultural technology enterprises jointly promote the digitalization of culture.

Moreover, the fair emphasizes the integration of culture and tourism, creating new experience scenarios for time-honored brands and consumption scenarios for culture and tourism, while also revitalizing intangible cultural heritage. Meanwhile, the fair is also collaborating with platforms such as Tiktok on online and offline promotions to boost cultural tourism consumption

A beautifully crafted statue of Wukong. [Photo/Cross-Strait (Xiamen) Cultural Industries Fair]

Wang  Qianyi contributed to the story