The Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism held a public event on Dec 16, which hosted more than 10 general visitors and media reporters.

The guests attended a symposium during which officials introduced the province's development of the cultural and tourism industries in recent years.

Participants attend a symposium during the public event hosted by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Dec 16. [Photo by Zhao Xiao/chinanews.com]

Since the beginning of this year, Shandong has made every effort to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, promoted the recovery of the cultural and tourism markets, and issued a slew of policies and measures to help enterprises to overcome difficulties, said Wang Chunsheng, a second-grade inspector of Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

According to Wang, in the first three quarters of this year, the province received 337 million tourists and achieved tourist revenue of 376.59 billion yuan ($57.62 billion), accounting for 48.2 percent and 44.1 percent respectively of the same period last year.

"In recent years, Shandong has carried out a series of cultural tourism consumption promotion activities to invigorate the market and satisfy public demand with high-quality products," said Wang.

Shandong has strengthened the protection and use of cultural relics, boosted the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, and improved public cultural services, Wang said.

The province has been making continuous efforts to improve public cultural services in rural areas. Cultural service centers have been built in the province's 1,819 townships (subdistricts) and nearly 70,000 villages (communities).

By the end of November this year, the province had arranged 82,912 theatrical performances in rural areas, benefiting nearly 40 million audience members.

Participants at the public event visit the Shandong Government Service Center. [Photo by Zhao Xiao/chinanews.com]

"Having worked at the grassroots level for more than 30 years, I can clearly feel that the cultural life of citizens has been enriched in these years," said He Dengjun, director of Qianfoshan subdistrict office in Lixia district of Jinan, the capital of Shandong province.

In the past, the cultural life of citizens mainly consisted of watching outdoor movies, listening to music and dancing in the square, said He.

"We now have a variety of activities such as intangible cultural heritage performances in communities, various exhibitions and shows," He said.

The attendees of the public day event also visited the Shandong Government Service Center, the Shandong Art Museum and the Shandong Museum.

Dong Enhua, a representative over 60, has participated in the public day event for two consecutive years.

"Each time I had a different harvest and had a deeper experience and understanding of Shandong's cultural services, venues and facilities," Dong said.

Participants at the public day event visit Shandong Art Museum. [Photo by Zhao Xiao/chinanews.com]

Participants at the public day event visit Shandong Museum. [Photo by Zhao Xiao/chinanews.com]