The opening ceremony of the 2025 Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Tourism Festival kicks off on Dec 11 in Quanzhou. [Photo provided to enquanzhou.com]

The 2025 Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Tourism Festival recently concluded in Quanzhou, showcasing the city's rich cultural heritage and driving the integrated development of culture and tourism.

A highlight was the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Fashion Show, where traditional elements like Nanyin music, string puppetry, Dehua ceramics, and the distinctive attire of Xunpu and Hui'an women were reimagined into contemporary fashion. The runway featured a striking blend of traditional floral hairpins and modern haute couture, creating a dynamic dialogue across centuries.

The festival facilitated practical industry connections through a supply-demand matchmaking event. Over 100 buyers from e-commerce, financial, and industry associations engaged directly with 50 ICH artisans and experienced more than 100 traditional crafts. An innovative "exhibition + forum + signing" model and a dedicated ICH IP licensing zone effectively linked artisans with major commercial platforms.

International exchange was a central theme. The Maritime Silk Road Intangible Cultural Heritage Performance featured 27 ICH projects from 18 countries, including Myanmar, Japan, Egypt, and the United Kingdom.

As a historic starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Quanzhou is consistently becoming more open to the outside world. The Quanzhou International Nanyin Symposium, which for the first time included American participants among 42 ensembles and over 600 enthusiasts, and the Quanzhou International Puppetry Festival, which brought together 38 troupes and 500 performers from nine countries, including Russia and Argentina, who staged over 40 pop-up performances in public spaces.

Deeper dialogue was fostered through the "Dialogue on World Heritage Revitalization", connecting Quanzhou with overland Silk Road cities Xi'an and Dunhuang to discuss heritage preservation and cultural mutual learning.

Practical tourism collaboration was advanced via the "Sailing Initiative" for International Travel Agents from 100 Silk Road countries with international travel agents and platforms like Trip.com, which supported the creation of diverse tourist routes. The 2025 Overseas Travel Agents (Fujian) Matchmaking Meeting further solidified partnerships, announcing new inbound tourism policies and routes while facilitating five enterprise agreements.

These multifaceted efforts have constructed a comprehensive international exchange network for Quanzhou, spanning folk arts, industry, academia, and public engagement.

Through well-designed consumption opportunities and industry matchmaking, the festival converted the massive visitor flows into industrial growth and enhanced urban branding.

The festival successfully transformed visitor engagement into tangible economic and branding outcomes. The "Most Chinese · Culture & Museum Market", featuring nearly 60 Silk Road-themed museums and brands, achieved contracted transactions exceeding 2.5 billion yuan ($361.5 million) and attracted nearly 50,000 visits. A sports culture salon with Olympics champions explored synergies between "sports + tourism" and "ICH + sports", discussing how Olympic spirit and "China-chic" trends can elevate Quanzhou's sports manufacturing industry. Complementing this, a citywide fashion show collection event was launched, reinforcing Quanzhou's emerging identity as a vibrant "China-chic" and fashion-forward city.

The Quanzhou International Puppet Festival is launched on Dec 12. [Photo provided to enquanzhou.com]