6.758 billion movie box office, 9,400 performances, 110,000 mass cultural activities
The cultural express is in full swing
"Today's movie theaters are full again." "This show is so popular that tickets are sold out as soon as they are sold out." Museums, libraries, bookstores and other cultural venues are fully open and popular, and the atmosphere of "Cultural New Year" is full.
The strong recovery of the film Spring Festival file, the rapidly heating up performance market and the rising consumption of various cultures have allowed people to immerse themselves in a rich cultural life and welcome the arrival of the new year with high spirits and confidence.
New Year's Eve Achievements
At nearly 9:00 a.m. on January 22 (the first day of the first month of the first lunar month), the old, middle-aged and young audience gathered in the Ciyun Temple store of Yaolai Jackie Chan International Cinema in Chaoyang District, Beijing. There is a queue for ticket checking.
On that day, although many popular films were more than 120 minutes long, the 8 theaters of this theater had a total of 52 screenings, and the number of viewers reached more than 3,900, an increase of about 10% over the same period last year. The comprehensive box office revenue of the theater was nearly 28. Ten thousand yuan, an increase of about 300% from a week ago.
In theaters in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and other places, there was also a movie-watching boom that hadn’t been seen for a long time during the Spring Festival. Some viewers “organized groups” to watch several movies in a day.
Many viewers have reported that they need to buy tickets a day or two in advance if they want to buy special shows such as prime time shows or giant screens.
Industry insiders commented: This is a blowout phenomenon that has not been seen for a long time in the Chinese mainland film market.
According to preliminary statistics from the National Film Administration, the box office for the Spring Festival in 2023 (from New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the first month, from January 21 to January 27) is 6.758 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.89%; the number of moviegoers is 129 million, a year-on-year increase 13.16%.
"Manjianghong", "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Bear Infested·Stay with me "Bear Core"" ranked the top three at the box office.
"The Spring Festival movies are so popular, beyond expectations." Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Society, said.
This year, he celebrated the Spring Festival in Chengdu, Sichuan. He got up early on the first day of the new year and went to Wangfujing Cinemas on Chunxi Road to "catch the movie festival". He watched 4 movies a day and gained a lot.
According to expert analysis, the reason for the popularity of the Spring Festival stalls is mainly that as the first Spring Festival stall after the optimization and adjustment of my country's epidemic prevention policy, the film market has sufficient supply, the types of films released are rich in themes, and the quality and reputation are relatively high. satisfy.
In addition, Beijing, Shanghai and other places have launched some film benefits for the people.
In recent years, going to theaters to watch movies during the Spring Festival has become a New Year custom.
The strong recovery of the Spring Festival file proves that the custom of watching movies during the Spring Festival is still guarded by us.
Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association, chairman of the Theory Review Committee, and professor at Tsinghua University, believes that the audience's enthusiasm and habit of watching movies in theaters has recovered for the most part, and will further revive.
Rao Shuguang said that Chinese films will start again with the Spring Festival as a new starting point, and excellent works will continue to emerge, and better domestic films will tell more exciting Chinese stories.
The performing arts market has a "good start"
Unlike the film market, the Spring Festival in previous years was not a popular period for the performance market.
This year, many troupes and theaters have carefully planned high-quality performing arts projects, and the enthusiastic feedback from the audience has greatly boosted the confidence of performers.
According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 9,400 commercial performances nationwide during the Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of 40.92% over 2022 and an increase of 22.5% over 2019.
As a national cultural center, Beijing's performance venues reopened during the Spring Festival, and 1,687 high-quality performances of 244 plays were held in 104 performance venues.
From January 18th to 28th, Beijing Renyi’s new year’s drama "Under the Red Flag" was staged at the Capital Theater for 9 performances.
This is the first work launched by Beijing People's Art after the recovery of 100% attendance. It is written by Lao She, written by Li Longyun, directed by Feng Yuanzheng and Yan Rui, and joined by powerful actors such as Pu Cunxin, Yang Lixin, Liang Danni, Wang Qianhua, Yu Zhen, and Wang Gang.
Tickets for the 9 performances were sold out as soon as they were issued.
"For more than three years, we have closed the theater to restore 30%, 50%, 75% attendance, and today we finally welcome 100% audience." Sound, said Feng Yuanzheng, dean of Beijing People's Arts, excitedly when he took the stage to call the curtain with all the main creators.
Chang'an Grand Theater, which is not far from Beijing Renyi, also plays well from the first day to the sixth day of the new year.
Famous Peking opera master Chi Xiaoqiu's "Suolin Bag", Li Hongtu's "Zhou Ren Presents His Wife", and Hu Wenge's "Farewell My Concubine" have attracted many theater fans.
In the past few days, although the temperature in Beijing dropped sharply, the Chang'an Grand Theater was full of seats, the stage was lively, and the audience was also lively, with constant applause.
After a few hours of play, the audience is always unwilling to leave, and the scene of louder than louder appears frequently, and the atmosphere is extremely enthusiastic.
In Shanghai, the consumption of Chinese New Year performances has also shown a sharp rebound. Traditional operas, music and dance, talk shows, children's dramas, musicals, circuses and other art categories converge on the festival performance stage.
The total number of games scheduled for the 7 days of the Spring Festival reached 602, a year-on-year increase of 32%, and the box office sold increased by 42% year-on-year.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai Grand Theater and other Shanghai performing arts landmarks launched a series of Spring Festival concerts and wonderful repertoire performances.
For example, the Shanghai Grand Theater arranged a total of 13 performances for 3 plays during the Spring Festival holiday, and more than 7,000 tickets were issued in the first 3 days alone, which even exceeded the total box office of the entire 7-day Spring Festival holiday in 2019.
Cultural consumption bursts with vitality
According to data provided by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the Spring Festival, about 110,000 mass cultural activities were held across the country, with about 473 million participants.
A total of 10,522 non-heritage inheritance practice activities were carried out in various places, and the total number of participating videos in the "Culture Entering Thousands of Homes-Video Live Hometown Year" event exceeded 65,000, with more than 580 live broadcasts.
"National trend" and "national style" such as cultural museums, intangible cultural heritage, festivals and customs continue to stimulate the vitality of cultural consumption.
During the Spring Festival, 100 calligraphy works of "rabbit" in Heping District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, attracted many visitors.
The "rabbit" works on display include cursive script, running script, and exaggerated art writing, each of which is unique.
Professor Zhang Zhenzhong, a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association and the host of the National Art Fund project "Let You Fall in Love with Chinese Characters", explained the history of the evolution of the "rabbit" character to visitors with great interest.
Hanging red lanterns and pasting up decorative paintings, the New Year atmosphere of Xinhua Bookstore Chongqing Road Store in Changchun City, Jilin Province is particularly strong.
In the children's book area on the third floor, children are flipping through books among the bookshelves. Books on traditional culture are very popular.
Qu Lianwei, the store manager, said that during the Spring Festival, the bookstore's traffic increased significantly.
One day's sales were more than the combined sales of nearly half a month ago.
Experience the intangible cultural heritage and taste the customs of the New Year. In Yongqingfang, Xiguan, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, citizens visit the New Year’s Fair, taste Cantonese delicacies, enjoy the beautiful scenery of the old city, and immerse themselves in the intangible cultural heritage in the customs of the New Year.
Walking into the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, citizens and tourists can not only wear Cantonese opera costumes and experience Cantonese opera culture, but also "open the oil wok" together with the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, experience the production of fried oil corners, and feel the most down-to-earth Cantonese Year taste.
In order to enrich the nighttime cultural life of citizens during the Spring Festival, many places focus on the characteristics of the "city that never sleeps" to stimulate the vitality of nighttime consumption.
The Museum of Chinese Characters in Anyang, Henan Province launched a series of Spring Festival activities during the festival, "One Character Millennium·Museum Wonderful Night".
This is the first night tour of the Chinese Characters Museum since its opening. Under the bright night view of the Chinese Characters Park, the audience can travel through different time and space and experience the wonderful traditional culture, skills and Chinese character folk customs immersively.
In Xi'an, Shaanxi, the Xi'an City Wall New Year Lantern Festival, which has lasted for 36 years, has become more "fashionable" this year. The images are derived from women from the Tang Dynasty, warriors in golden armor, and literati.
The IP character image of the "Prosperous Tang Tiantuan", which is based on the idea of a friendly messenger on the ancient Silk Road, was "out of the circle" as soon as it appeared.
Digital collections and cultural and creative products related to the theme of the Lantern Festival are hot online and offline.
"After watching movies in cinemas and spending New Year's Eve in museums, activities such as watching performances, visiting bookstores, appreciating national trends, and making tea around the stove are becoming the way for many people to start the Lunar New Year." Some experts pointed out that with the epidemic prevention policy Optimization and adjustment, such new scenes and new fashions not only inject richer modern elements into the Spring Festival culture, but also add new impetus and expectations to cultural consumption in the new year.
(Reporter Zheng Na Miaochun)
(Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, Page 07, January 30, 2023)