Today, the main event of the 2023 "China Tourism Day" is being held in Yunnan for the first time. 16 cities and prefectures of Yunnan Province have launched a variety of activities to inspire the enthusiasm of the public for tourism, and to experience "a life called Yunnan".

The reporter found that a new tourism trend is emerging - an increasing number of filming locations for movies and TV series are appearing on many people's travel lists, and visiting these locations has become a popular trend.

Recently, the most popular TV series is undoubtedly the 12-episode online drama The Long Season. Although the series has ended, its popularity continues. Many people from Kunming and even tourists from other places are rushing to the filming locations such as the Kunming Wuna Factory and the abandoned Kunming Steel Railway to take photos. Apart from The Long Season, the just-completed TV series Zhan Huo Zhong De Qing Chun was also filmed in various locations in Kunming.

Linking filming locations with the cultural tourism is not a new concept. With the increasing popularity of films and TV series shooting in Kunming, the combination of "film and television + cultural tourism" has become a major focus. To achieve long-term success, it will require efforts from multiple parties.

Northeast Story Filming in SW China

After The Long Season was broadcasted, many people in Kunming found the actual shooting locations of the drama, such as the Hualin Cinema, which was filmed in the office building of the former Kunming Hand Tractor Factory in Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone; the Huagang living area where Wang Xiang lived was filmed in the first living area of the former Yunnan Tire Factory in Jinning, after investigation and on-site visits; the video room, the Huagang hall, and office building in the drama were all filmed in the Kunming Wuna Factory located in Haikou Sub-district, Xishan District... Many Kunming locals took photos at these locations and shared their experiences through short videos, pictures, and other forms of media.

As of May 9th, "The Long Season filming locations in Kunming" had appeared on the hot list of Douyin, with a total of 3.08 million views. Zhang Min, the person in charge of Yunnan Lingdixin Culture Media Co., Ltd., is not surprised by this. "Yunnan is a treasure that cannot be fully explored. "The Long Season has allowed more filmmakers to see the potential of Kunming in terms of shooting and production," Zhang Min said.

The Hualin Cinema in the drama was filmed in the office building of the former Kunming Hand Tractor Factory in Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone. 

The Long Season tells a story set in a small town in Northeast China. It presents a bright, optimistic, and colorful autumn in Northeast China - with Wang Xiang's red sweater, Gong Biao's yellow jacket, and the green trains and taxis, making for a rich and vibrant visual experience. The use of authentic northeastern expressions such as "Ni Chou Sha (what are you looking at)", and "Bie De Se (don't be arrogant)" also added to the show's authenticity and familiarity.

Why was this northeastern drama filmed in Yunnan?

According to Zhang Min, who provided all the filming services for The Long Season production team, "At first, Kunming was not within the scope of the producer's filming options. Many people thought of Kunming as the Spring City, with a soft and beautiful scenery that lacked the specific scenes of northeastern old industrial areas. However, after the producer contacted me, I sent them pictures of locations such as Kunming Steel and Jinning Tire Factory based on the requirements of the plot. To our surprise, the production team members came to check the locations immediately after seeing the photos, and confirmed the decision to film in Kunming in less than two weeks."

The railway scenes in the drama were filmed on an abandoned railway line of Kunming Steel. 

In 2007, Zhang Min entered the film and television industry and has since assisted in location scouting, coordinating wardrobe and props, and other aspects of production. Zhang Min said, "Geographically speaking, the autumn in Northeast China is fleeting and cannot satisfy the several months of filming required. During location scouting, Kunming Steel was still in operation, and the yellow flowers growing in the seams of the railroad tracks matched the vibrant and magnificent appearance of Huagang that Wang Xiang envisioned. The rich layers of autumn in Kunming, with its strong romanticism and old industrial buildings, also matched the director's creative vision."

Why did they choose Kunming, Yunnan?

"The TV series Zhan Huo Zhong De Qing Chun (formerly known as The National Southwest Associated University And Us) was filmed in Kunming Steel Pingdingshan and Yulongwan Park Film and Television City. Zhan Huo Zhong De Qing Chun and The Long Season have shown the film industry the versatility of Kunming, Yunnan. Apart from our natural scenery and diverse ethnic characteristics, we also have a rich history and cultural heritage that can add a unique touch to film and television productions," said Zhang Min.

The TV series Zhan Huo Zhong De Qing Chun was filmed on location at Southwest Associated University. 

Over the years, there have been countless Chinese films and televisions filmed in Yunnan. The TV drama Meet Yourself has been praised by netizens as the "best promotional film for Yunnan" and has even created a phenomenon of "a drama igniting a city". The TV drama Eternal Love was filmed in Puzhehei, Wenshan, while films such as Forever Young, Breakup Buddies, and Youth were filmed in Kunming, Dali, and Honghe. Earlier popular film and television works include Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Turbulence of the Mu Clan, and Journey to the West.

The film Breakup Buddies was filmed on location in Dali. 

From a longer-term perspective, Yunnan has played a very important role in the development of the Chinese film and television industry.

The releases of Five Golden Flowers and Ashima in 1978 and 1979 respectively sparked the enthusiasm of Chinese modern film artists for cultural creation. In 1979, Kunming Film Studio collaborated with Xi'an Film Studio to produce the film Hei Lian Ren. The formal production of Hei Lian Ren marked the end of the history of Yunnan's inability to independently produce films. In 1982, the film Ye He Na was officially released, which was independently produced and filmed by Kunming Film Studio. Subsequently, Yunnan Ethnic Film Studio created a series of films such as Er Hai Qing Bo, Gu Niang Zhai, and Wu Tou Jian, and began to attempt to produce realistic and commercial films.

The film Sun Bird. 

In the 1990s, the film and television art creation in Yunnan entered an important stage. In 1996, the film Sun Bird was completed and released. Based on the real-life experiences of dancer Yang Liping, the film reflects the artistic value and soul of a minority ethnic dancer. It won the Special Jury Award at the Canada Montreal Film Festival.

In the opinion of Zhao Chunming, vice chairman of the Yunnan Film Association and director of Yunnan Ethnic Film Studio, the expression of minority ethnic themes should be one of the most important features of Yunnan's film industry. He said, "The previously produced film Ye Da inherits the culture of the Dai ethnicity. The film New Five Golden Flowers, which was released in March 2022, can be said to be the 'Five Golden Flowers' of the new era."

The integration of film and tourism

Industry insiders are considering how to make film and television intellectual property and the tourism industry complement each other to achieve mutual benefit.

In the view of Deng Jingze, secretary-general of the Kunming Film and Television Industry Association, the combination of "film and television + tourism" not only has significant economic value but can also bring huge tourist flows and increase revenue to filming locations. At the same time, adding film and television cultural elements into tourism scenery can also increase the city's visibility and bring about good social benefits.

The combination of "film and television + tourism" reflects the needs and interactive relationship between two different industries, and the effect generated by the deep integration of both is also very apparent.

Stills from The Longest Day in Chang'an. 

One week after the broadcast of The Longest Day in Chang'an, tourism in Xi'an increased by 22%. Ctrip flight ticket data also showed that during that period, the search volume for flight tickets to Xi'an increased by 130%, with a peak increase of over 200%. Hi, Mom brought Xiangyang into the public eye, and during the week of February 11-17, 2021, Xiangyang received a total of 837,600 tourists and achieved tourism revenue of 154.04 million yuan. When the film The Eight Hundred was released, there were long queues at the Shanghai Sihang Warehouse Battle Memorial Hall, and there was a constant stream of tourists coming to visit. Minning Town also boosted tourism in Ningxia, with Beichangtan Village and "Route 66" receiving 47,000 tourists during the Spring Festival.

The TV series Minning Town boosted tourism in Ningxia. 

According to data from the China Tourism Academy, 24.5% of Chinese tourists said they would be attracted to a previously unexplored destination after watching a film or TV show. However, this attraction is short-lived, and the popularity of a tourism destination due to film and television phenomena generally fades quickly over time.

"The spillover effect of the film and television industry is actually very significant. It can be said that the film and television industry has a promoting effect on the development of many other industries," said Deng Jingze.

Zhang Min said, "Film and television productions can drive many industries because they naturally have spillover and dissemination effects and reach a very broad audience. The function of film and television products determines that they can drive many market consumption, but this is not only reflected in the popularity of 'same style' products, but also contains many industry growth points and can even create a cultural industry chain model."

Good services drive great development.

"Outstanding film and television works are the business cards of a region's image," Zhang Min said. "In fact, after we finished filming, the Jinning Tire Factory was about to be demolished, and it's still uncertain what to do with the Kunming Steel Plant." Zhang Min's tone was full of regret.

On the one hand, Yunnan are rich in film and television resources, and on the other hand, there are issues such as scattered shooting scenes, a lack of large-scale film and television studios, and a shortage of professional talents. "In the future, Yunnan will also need to strengthen the construction of destination hardware facilities, improve service quality, and create high-quality film and television IP scenic spots," Zhang Min said.

Industry insiders are thinking, and the government is also actively exploring. In recent years, relevant departments in Yunnan Province have taken a series of measures to lay out the development of the film and television industry. These measures include implementing the "Yunnan Produced" film boutique project, establishing a dynamically updated film "boutique library" "seed library" and "project library". They also insist on the integration of "film and television + cultural tourism," achieving the integration, interaction, and mutual promotion of culture and tourism. They pay attention to cultivating and fostering a high-level leadership team to provide a strong talent guarantee and extensive intellectual support for the film and television industry.

Kunming is deeply implementing a cultural-led development strategy and has made accelerating the development of the cultural and creative industry an important measure to cultivate new economic growth points, enhance cultural soft power and industrial competitiveness. They focus on building a "big cultural and creative" industry pattern, continuously improving the policy system for industry development, improving the modern cultural market system, providing platforms, improving services, enhancing quality, and expanding the scale. They have initially formed a new industrial development pattern with creative design as the leader, digital cultural industry and cultural equipment manufacturing as the mainstay, arts and crafts and advertising exhibition as support, and film and animation, news publishing, and leisure and entertainment as the features.

"Next month, we will establish the Kunming Film and Television Industry Park as a base, and through this platform, we will strengthen services for the entire film and television industry chain. The first step is to explore and classify the current scattered 'treasures' of filming locations in Kunming, and promote them to major film and television projects. Through project-based operations, we will attract more film crews to come to Kunming to film, and we will also provide better quality services for film and television productions," said Deng Jingze.

At the end of the interview, industry insiders such as Zhang Min and Deng Jingze expressed the view that relying on Yunnan's advantageous resources such as history, culture, ethnic groups, and nature, along with the joint efforts of the public and the government, there will surely be more high-quality works with warmth, depth, and distinct Yunnan characteristics emerging in this land.

Have you seen all of these films? Do some of the locations in the films look familiar? They were all shot in Yunnan. Let's reminisce about them together!

TV series

Zhan Huo Zhong De Qing Chun

First broadcast date: April 23, 2023

Shooting locations: Kunming Steel Plant Pingdingshan, and Yulongwan Film and Television City in Anning.

The Long Season

First broadcast date: April 22, 2023

Shooting locations: First residential area of the former Yunnan Tire Factory in Jinning, and Kunming Wuna Factory in Haikou, Xishan District.

Meet Yourself

First broadcast date: January 3, 2023

Shooting locations: Shaxi Ancient Town in Dali, Xizhou, Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor, and Fengyangyi Village.

Glory of Special Forces

First broadcast date: April 5, 2022

Shooting locations: Yunnan Police Officer Academy, and Yunnan Normal University (Chenggong Campus).

My Chief and My Regiment

First broadcast date: March 5, 2009

Shooting locations: Yunnan's Tengchong Cherry Blossom Valley, Jiangzuo Ancient Town, and Heshun Ancient Town in Baoshan.

Movies

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

First broadcast date: December 22, 2005

Shooting locations: Dayan Ancient Town, Shuhe Ancient Town, and Yulong Snow Mountain.

Kora

First broadcast date: November 3, 2011

Shooting locations: Lijiang and the Yunnan-Tibet Highway.

Operation Mekong

First broadcast date: September 30, 2016

Shooting locations: Xishuangbanna.

Youth

First broadcast date: December 15, 2017

Shooting locations: Bisezhai in Honghe's Mengzi and Shangri-La.

Forever Young

First broadcast date: January 12, 2018

Shooting locations: Southwest Associated University Memorial, Beidaying in Xundian, Red Land in Dongchuan, Lianhuachi Park, and the front building of Zhenzhuang Hotel.

Hidden Man

First broadcast: July 13, 2018

Shooting locations: Xinglin Daguan Park in Shilin.

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(Editors: Christine, Rachel)