Cultural Management Project: A Festival Proposal for Hongjiang Town

This project proposal outlines a cultural festival designed for Hongjiang Ancient Town, drawing inspiration from the successful Wuzhen model. The project aims to revive the town's cultural heritage, boost tourism, and increase awareness of its historical significance through ancient dance forms and showcasing ancient architecture. The proposal includes a rationale for the project, details on the proposed location and dates, potential cultural institutional partners, possible funding sources, and reasons why the project is appropriate for the intended audience. Realistic logistics, potential problems, and the potential for ongoing partnerships are also considered, along with a detailed project budget. The project seeks to balance cultural preservation with economic development, highlighting the importance of historical awareness and cultural tourism.

Running head: CULTURAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT
CULTURAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Theme of the Project and Art Form Focused On.............................................................................3
Rationale for the Project..................................................................................................................5
Proposed Location and Dates..........................................................................................................7
Possible Cultural Institutional Partners within the Country............................................................8
Possible Funding Sources, Internal and External..........................................................................10
Reasons Why This Piece Of Work Would Be Appropriate For the Intended Audience...............12
Realistic logistics to make it happen.............................................................................................13
Problems or sensitive issues that your proposed project might raise............................................14
Potential for ongoing partnerships that the project might generate...............................................15
Project Budget...............................................................................................................................17
Reference:......................................................................................................................................19
Appendix........................................................................................................................................21

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Introduction
People in the modern world are forgetting their cultural roots. As it has been discussed in
the previous part of the paper, modern civilization and globalization is giving rise to a
homogenous world where the population throughout the world are becoming similar in their
thought process because of increased connectivity and therefore forgetting their rich cultural
past. In the ancient times when it was the time for the rise of different civilizations around the
world, each had their own unique characteristic features that set them apart from other
civilizations. Chinese civilization is one of the world’s oldest civilizations (Granet, 2013). It has
been pioneer in many discoveries including paper and gun powder. The country had its own
unique and glorious past where the forefathers of the modern Chinese man had several
milestones of success in various fields. This includes, art, culture, science and performing arts. In
present times, with modernization Chinese population has started to forget the glorious past
legacy, therefore it is now required to take adequate measures in order to reestablish the
memories of the ancient past in the mind of the modern Chinese men. This can be done through
various means, the most important of which can be organizing festivals that will help the people
recollect their ancient past. This will also help in boosting the tourism of the region as many
national and international tourists will visit the place for experiencing the particular festival. It
will change the economy of the region by increasing the flow of tourists in the region which will
directly cause growth of hotels, businesses and similar economic activities. The proposed event
will be therefore helpful in the economy of the region and also in making the participants
historically more aware. The event must be a balance of culture and historical perspectives. The
archeology of the place must be highlighted to the visitors in an entertaining manner so that the

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memory of the event remains in their mind. This will be helpful in also reaching out to the
foreign tourists who will be showing greater interest in the history of China.
Theme of the Project and Art Form Focused On
In the ancient city of Wuzhen the performing art form of theatre has been revived and
utilized to boost the cultural past of the town. This theatre festival in Wuzhen has become one of
the most popular festivals in entire China (Eberhard, 2013). There are thousands of tourists and
visitors coming in the town of Wuzhen to experience this annual event. It has almost become a
yearly carnival when people from all over the country and many foreign tourists visit the place to
be a part of the theatre festival and to ensure that the yearly carnival becomes a success (Shiqing
& Dawu, 2012). The administration of the city also takes appropriate measures to support the
particular theatre festival and carnival in all possible ways so that the festival takes place
smoothly without any problems. This theatre festivals is successful in bringing back the memory
of the ancient cultural heritage at one hand and in gathering tourists in the region on the other
hand.
In the ancient city of Hongjiang a similar festival can be arranged in the similar model in
order to get the likely successes which have been achieved in Wuzhen. This particular city is
located in the Hunan province and is mostly a city covered with mountains and snow peaks. So
this naturally makes it a favorite destination for the tourists. The town Hongjiang is an ancient
commercial town which currently boasts of about 380 ancient architectures which are intact and
important for reconstruction of the ancient Chinese history. The most of the ancient structures
has been erected during the Qing dynasty and Ming dynasty. The city boasts of a long vibrant
history of different Chinese dynasties is a commercial port, and is a major fireworks town, with

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more than 3000 years history of civilization (Zhang, Fyall & Zheng, 2015). The city was a
destination for the merchants dealing with tung oil, wood, ash, opium.
The proposed project for the revival of the ancient historical memory of the Chinese
population in this city will include a festival where there will be large scale presentation of the
ancient Chinese dance forms and various other performing arts. The venues will be the various
historical spots where the ancient architectures still stand. This will at one hand revive the
ancient dance forms and also draw more international and national tourists to the ancient
architectural sites of Hongjiang. The ancient architectural sites are located at various places of
Hongjiang. Therefore, the events organized in various areas of the ancient town will almost
recreate the carnival like mood which is found in Wuzhen during the theatre festival. In Wuzhen
as well the theater festival takes place in various locations of the city. The city is enlivened with
theatres happening all over the city at various locations. In the same way the city of Hongjiang
can be decorated properly and stages can be erected in the ancient architectural sites where
people can go and experience the dance festivals, and all the dance forms will be traditional
ancient Chinese dance which will depict the Chinese history. The ancient Chinese dance forms
are Folk dances of Han Chinese, Ritualistic dances, Folk dances of various minority groups in
China and various others. The ancient dance forms in China mainly took place in the court rituals
and ceremonies. The various rulers in the ancient China had been engaged in developing and
picking various folk dance rituals. It also often happened that many future emperor who came
banned previous dance forms. These historical events that took place in the past will be presented
to the people in the dance forms and contemporary dance forms will also be presented along with
the ancient dance form to contrast and show the people the evolution of dance through the ages.

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The project will include programs and events that will be evenly distributed in the whole
town of Hongjiang and the primary locations will be the ancient architectural sites. The backdrop
of the mountains and snowy peaks will add extra attraction (Refer to image 4 and image 5 in
Appendix). The organizers will ensure that there are stages, sitting arrangements, bathrooms,
resting places and medical care facilities in each of the locations where the events will take
place. Before the commencement of the event that will run for a week, there will be
advertisements and announcements in the entire country and also in important international
platforms. In national perspective advertisement can be given in the national television, in
various popular news and entertainment channels, and hoardings and billboards all over the
country. In the national radio channels there can be programs and advertisements dedicated to
this program. In the international arena the organizers can rely on heavy online advertisements in
international websites especially the ones dedicated to travel websites. The international travelers
who are interested in Chinese cultural history and architectural history can come and experience
both of these aspects of history together in this one single event. The cultural history will be
depicted by the ancient dance forms which will be performed by expert professionals hired for
the purpose. When the populations will come to attend the dance festivals they will also be
visiting the ancient cultural sites which will make them aware about the ancient architectural
history of China.
Rationale for the Project
The historical forgetfulness seen in most of the countries throughout the world is a trend
which has worried many, especially those who deal with the historical studies. The countries
around the world have started investing in the field of historical studies and to encourage people
to grow interest in the cultural and historical roots of their past through various cultural programs

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and historically motivated events. The idea and objective of such awareness programs is to make
the general people aware about their historical past through entertaining means. This encourages
people to get educated about history in lighter ways and also increases the tourism revenue of the
area where such project is implemented.
In the world the various places where important historical sites have been transformed
into tourism destinations from where millions of revenue is earned include Machu Picchu, Great
Pyramids, Angkor Wat, Petra, Stonehenge, Colosseum. Easter Islands, Taj Mahal, The Great
Wall. The historical tourism which takes place in various parts of the world are also known as
the heritage tourism (Park, 2013). According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in
the United States heritage tourism is defined as "traveling to experience the places, artifacts and
activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past". The cultural aspect has
always been one important aspect of the historical tourism, tourists from foreign countries
visiting a particular region to experience the cultural essence of the place, including the ancient
lifestyle of the people of that place, the indigenous style of livelihood of the people. There is also
theories that cultural tourism is a thing of past now, and now tourism itself has become a part of
the culture, therefore tourism itself is culture now (Sahlins, 2013). Therefore the rationale behind
the organization of the program constituting ancient dance forms of China is the growing
popularity behind the tourism dedicated to culture and lifestyle of the indigenous people of the
region.
On the other hand the rationale behind the inclusion of the archeological and ancient
architectural aspect of the ancient history by arranging the ancient dance programs in the ancient
archeological and architectural sites in the city, is the great interest of the people in exploring the
various archeological sites as a part of their tourism all over the years throughout ages. The most

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common form of historical tourism is the exploration of archeological areas of a particular
region. The ancient architectures including the palaces, ancient buildings, caves, statues play
very important role for the tourists (Su & Wall, 2014).
In this particular project therefore both the aspects of culture and history has been
brought together to give the tourists and history enthusiasts a composite experience where both
the cultural and archeological aspect of Chinese history will be covered. The rationale of the
project is therefore to increase the interest of the general Chinese people and the international
tourists in ancient Chinese history, and by the increased tourism to gain more revenue that will
help in the development of the ancient town.
Proposed Location and Dates
The proposed location of the event project will be spread across the city of Hongjiang, in
the various ancient archeological locations in the city. The city is located in the Hunan district of
China in picturesque location with mountains and snow peaks in the background. The Hunan
province is located in the Western part of China and is famous for various tourist locations that
dot many parts of it. Apart from Hongjiang there are various other famous historical sites in the
region as well, the Liye ancient city is one of the ancient archeological sites in the region. The
Liye town was the seat of the Qianling County and is famous for the 37,400 Qin bamboo slips
discovered in underground in 2002 (Blumenfield & Silverman, 2013). The Liye ancient city was
built by the Kingdom of Chu. In Hunan there are various other historical locations and sites that
are important to the historians but not known by the common people. In the Hongjiang city there
are more than 380 intact ancient structures built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Benton
and Pieke, 2016). All these sites can be destinations of tourism from international regions as well
as tourists from various parts of the country. The proposed locations of the events that will take

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place in various parts of the Hongjiang city will be around the ancient structures so that the
unknown archeological sites will get popular attention from the people. There are some ancient
sites where the structures are vulnerable and it would not be possible to get permission in
arranging the event, therefore there must be a prior discussion with the government in details
about the possibility of such events and in which if the ancient locations such events will be
allowed by the government. Prior permission must be taken from the required departments to
successfully conduct the project.
It is advisable that the best time people should visit the various cities of Hunan including
the Hongjiang city is the spring and autumn season (Wang, 2018). This is the time when the
weather remains at its best, and all the locations of tourist interest is accessible for the general
public. Therefore the time when the events can be arranged is from April to June. The best time
to visit the place is May and hence this festival will be arranged in the middle of May.
Therefore the proposed location of the event will be all the accessible ancient
archeological sites where permission will be available from the end of the Government. A
dedicated team of the management of the event will do their own research in ensuring that which
of the ancient archeological locations are feasible and viable for the events to be conducted. Then
a detailed proposal for the event will be given to the government so that permission can be taken
from the government authorities easily. The proposal must be designed in a way that the
government is convinced about the benefits of the project. The multiple benefits must be
highlighted properly.
The proposed time of the event is in the middle of May, from, 15th to 21st May, 1 week.

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The proposed location and time will have great impact on the success of the project. The
people who will be showing interest must be given a comfortable and entertaining experience so
that they may return every year. The performers must also be kept in a very comfortable
environment so that they can perform their best. This is the reason that such location and such
timing is chosen for the proposed festival.
Possible Cultural Institutional Partners within the Country
The two aspects of the proposed project includes tourism and history. Therefore the
institutions that can be a part of the project may include the prestigious historical organizations
in China and the big tourism companies that arrange for international tourism.
In China tourism is one of the most important industries from which the government
collects a lot of revenue and in the last few decades the countries tourism has grown a number
times due to the governmental reforms and international exposure (Shepherd & Yu, 2012). China
is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and fast becoming a superpower giving the
powerful countries of the world a close competition. Therefore this is a reason that there is more
investment in the field of tourism and historical conservation from the Chinese government.
Some of the important cultural institutional partners of the country are World History
Research of China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, The Confucius Institute, the Peking
University, Hunan University and Central South University.
The city of Hongjiang is located in the Hunan province of China. Therefore it is advisable
that the History department of the Hunan University may be kept as a partner. This will help the
event to take place smoothly and also an advisory board can be created who will be guiding the
whole event and also giving suggestions about the proposed sites of the events. The Chinese

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Academy of Social Sciences and the prestigious Confucius Institute may also be kept as partners
of the whole project (Hayhoe, 2016).
Other cultural institutions that must be kept in close partnership with the project would
include the prestigious and famous dance academies in China that deal with traditional Chinese
dance form. The Beijing Dance Academy is one of the foremost and most prestigious dance
academy in China, this institute not only deals with the ancient dance forms of China but also
blends the Chinese traditional dance forms with the modern dance forms from various foreign
origins. The proposed events would be featuring best performers of the traditional dance forms
from various parts of China. The organization of such performances may be done from the end
of the Beijing Dance Academy who will be in the responsibility of managing the performers, and
finalizing the performances.
Therefore the above two partnerships with the cultural institutes will ensure that the
archeological and cultural aspects of the events are taken care of. The partnership with the
History department of the Hunan University, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the
prestigious Confucius Institute, will make sure that the historical and archeological aspects of the
project is taken care of. The partnership with the Beijing Dance Academy will ensure that the
cultural aspect of the ancient dance forms of China are taken care of.
Also it is required to keep close contact with the national and international tourism
companies so that the interested people from national and international scenario who wants to
take the experience of the event may do so with ease. There will be a. active customer helpline
that will cater to the national and international customer groups who are interested.

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Possible Funding Sources, Internal and External
Tourism sector in China as already mentioned is one of the most vibrant and growing
sectors. The government of China has taken a keen interest in developing this particular sector.
The tourism market in China has become one of the world's most-watched inbound and
outbound tourist markets. “It was estimated that the number of domestic trips in China would
increase to about 2.38 billion trips by 2020, indicating an increase of over 50 percent compared
to the number of trips made within China ten years ago. The total revenue of Chinese travel and
tourism industry amounted to 3.94 trillion yuan as of 2016, up 15.2 percent compared to the
previous year. The industry contributed 2.1 percent to China's gross domestic product (GDP) and
provided around 22.5 million jobs” (Statista.com, 2018). It is estimated that the number of
people appointed in the various jobs related to tourism in China amounted to more than 65
million in the year 2015. In the same year the number of foreign tourists coming in the country
amounted to about 26 millions, the highest number of foreign tourists in the recent years came in
2012 which amounted to 27.19 million. In 2012 the revenue collected from the international
tourism China amounted to 50 billion in US dollar, in 2016 the numbers reduced to 44.43 billion
US Dollars. (Refer to Image 1 to Image 3 in Appendix). Therefore by the sheer volume of
revenue and number of foreign and national tourists it can be stated that there will be no dearth
of investors who will be interested in investing in the project. Apart from that the project is
solely dedicated to the uplifting of historical awareness among the general public, therefore it is
expected that the Chinese government will also play a crucial role in helping the organizers with
some funds or facilities that will be helpful.
China has a huge investment history in the field of education. The government has been
encouraging the academic endeavors, and aims to bring in more than half million international