In the wave of deep integration between digital economy and cultural consumption, Ximalaya Inc., China's largest online audio platform, is exploring an innovative path for "ear economy" to drive shared prosperity through sound as a bridge, leveraging technological innovation, industrial empowerment, and public welfare practices. From Jiaxing to nationwide, from online content ecosystems to offline cultural spaces, Ximalaya Inc. is using sound as a medium to write vivid chapters of cultural shared prosperity and talent co-cultivation.
**Cultural Shared Prosperity - Revitalizing Urban Resources**
"Since the trial operation of Tao Cang Ideal Village, visitor traffic has shown significant growth," said Ma Changjiu, General Manager of Ximalaya Innovation Headquarters.
Located in Wangjiajing Town, Xiuzhou District, the century-old Tao Grain Warehouse complex, which once served as an important hub for grain and oil distribution in northern Zhejiang and carries canal memories, has successfully been revitalized under the innovative model of "technology + local culture," becoming a new highlight in Jiaxing's cultural sector.
The Tao Grain Warehouse has deep historical significance. Now, with support from the Ximalaya platform, it has been transformed into a comprehensive cultural space integrating art curation, MR (Mixed Reality) technology, and other technologies. By deeply integrating historical heritage, trendy culture, and digital experiences, new vitality has been injected into this ancient architectural complex.
Officials from Wangjiajing Town stated: "Ximalaya has breathed soul into making canal culture 'alive' in Tao Cang." For a long time, how to properly develop and utilize Tao Cang to keep canal culture vibrant and charming through the passage of time has been an important concern. Ximalaya's involvement undoubtedly provides innovative ideas and practical examples for solving this challenge.
Ximalaya Tao Cang Ideal Village, based on the century-old Tao Grain Warehouse, integrates five major functional sectors. The Tao·C Aesthetic Restaurant provides unique dining experiences, allowing diners to enjoy gourmet food while experiencing artistic atmosphere; the art curation space regularly hosts various art exhibitions, building exchange platforms for artists and art enthusiasts; Tao Cang Theater serves as an important venue for cultural performances, enriching local residents' spiritual and cultural life; the luxury camping site combined with digital human music festivals blends outdoor camping with cutting-edge technology music, offering distinctive entertainment experiences; and Tao Lu Wild Lodge provides comfortable accommodation for visitors, allowing people to experience cultural influences while getting close to nature.
Similarly, Xiao Penglai Theater was also established with Ximalaya's support. The Ximalaya Xiao Penglai Theater project stems from deep exploration of local Xiuzhou culture.
According to Ma Changjiu, the entire space is divided into front and back halls with rich and diverse functions. The front hall is multifunctional, featuring a water bar, coffee shop, and salon space where visitors can wait, rest, chat, and taste specialty trendy beverages, equipped with large screens to enrich the waiting experience. It also gathers Ximalaya branded cultural products, traditional Chinese cultural products, and will introduce customized Xiuzhou intangible cultural heritage products in the future, allowing visitors to experience local cultural charm before watching VR content. The core production "Xiao Penglai Immortal Quest" was jointly created by the Ximalaya team and Xiuzhou District government, representing a customized VR drama of Jiaxing culture.
Under the innovative model of "technology + local culture," Tao Cang Ideal Village and Xiao Penglai Theater are no longer just historical landmarks but have become amplifiers of Jiaxing culture. Through hosting various cultural activities and performances, they spread Jiaxing's excellent culture, making Jiaxing's voice resonate far and wide.
**Talent Co-cultivation - Building Solid Talent Foundation for Cultural Shared Prosperity**
Talent is the foundation of shared prosperity. With their professional knowledge and innovative capabilities, they become the core force driving industrial upgrading.
In 2023, when Ximalaya settled in Xiuzhou, it partnered with Nanyang Institute of Technology, opening a new chapter of deep and fruitful school-enterprise cooperation. Nanyang Institute of Technology, leveraging Ximalaya's practical needs in audio content creation and platform operations, precisely adjusted curriculum settings, deeply integrating cutting-edge industry concepts and practical skills into the teaching system.
It is understood that Ximalaya, with "industry demand-driven talent cultivation" as its core, provides solid support for industrial college development through three major sectors: "building growth practice education channels, empowering scenario-based intelligent learning spaces, and introducing market projects to deepen collaborative mechanisms."
From June 10 to June 24 this year, Ximalaya corporate mentors entered classrooms, teaching cutting-edge AI editing technology to digital media technology students. "We leverage Ximalaya's resources to ensure students not only master basic theories but also learn practical combat skills, becoming high-quality applied talents," said officials from Nanyang Institute of Technology.
"Our first batch of 45 students jointly trained by Ximalaya and Nanyang Institute of Technology achieved outstanding results after systematic and targeted professional course learning and practical training," Ma Changjiu said. Among them, 40 have successfully found employment, quickly establishing themselves in relevant industries with rich experience and solid skills accumulated in the joint training program. The other 5 students chose to continue their studies, hoping to delve deeper into professional fields to accumulate stronger energy for future career development. Notably, the school fully leveraged the advantages of the joint training model, actively expanding practical channels. Through helping Wufangzhai conduct live-streaming sales activities, they created sales value of up to 17 million yuan. In this process, students have successfully become sales anchors at Wufangzhai based on outstanding performance, achieving seamless transition from campus to workplace and truly converting learned knowledge into actual productivity.
Moreover, adhering to the mission of "sharing human wisdom through sound and serving beautiful life through sound," Ximalaya Innovation Business Headquarters has been paying attention to and deeply involved in various disability assistance work since its establishment. For disabled individuals, Ximalaya organizes Party member volunteer teams, cooperating with disability federations to promote disabled anchor training programs, continuously empowering disabled employment. Through targeted training and support, Ximalaya helps disabled individuals create new careers with sound, hoping they can pursue dreams and seek light in the sound world through training, achieving barrier-free sound and endless voice.
Ma Yinqing, a Shanghai girl born in 1994, became blind due to excessive oxygen inhalation in an incubator during premature birth. With her optimism and resilience, despite never seeing light, she step by step completed her education from kindergarten to high school and entered Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to study blind massage. She opened an account called "Chasing Light Voice" on Ximalaya to become an anchor, while founding an audiobook production company with most employees being visually impaired individuals, carving out a "sound touching hearts" employment path in the audiobook production industry and creating vast amounts of audiobooks for visually impaired partners.
Jin Jinxi is an outstanding contestant who emerged from the 2024 Disabled Good Voice Competition in Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone. "We donated recording equipment to her and arranged mentors for guidance, allowing her to shine in the audio field," Ma Changjiu said. As of now, Jiaxing Ximalaya has over 80 disabled anchors and has supported 5 disabled students.
While creating economic value, Ximalaya has not forgotten to fulfill its social responsibility as a leading internet enterprise. In 2019, under the promotion of Ximalaya Shanghai Headquarters Party Committee, Ximalaya jointly launched the "Project Hope - Ximalaya Mini School" public welfare project with China Youth Development Foundation, providing professional high-quality online premium courses and classic audiobooks to schools in remote areas to bridge knowledge gaps, break educational resource imbalances, guide correct values, and create favorable basic conditions for youth learning and growth in remote areas. So far, it has been implemented in 95 impoverished mountain schools in Yunnan, Sichuan, Ningxia, Hebei and other provinces and autonomous regions, covering nearly 50,000 teachers and students.