A large-scale immersive theatrical production titled "Splendid Taiping," based on the renowned folk tradition "Walking for Taiping on the Sixteenth Day of the First Lunar Month," premiered on the 9th in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province, drawing visitors from across the nation.

"I used to see 'Walking for Taiping' as just a festive activity for seeking blessings during the new year. After watching the performance, I truly understood this enduring hope for national peace and family security spanning a thousand years," said Huang Qin, a visitor from Hunan.

It is understood that the "Walking for Taiping" tradition has a history of nearly two thousand years, embodying the people's aspirations for a prosperous and peaceful nation. Previously, this folk custom was concentrated solely on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, with limited presentation time and singular forms of expression, making it difficult to fully convey its profound cultural significance.

To address this, "Splendid Taiping" delves deeply into the core of the folk tradition, weaving together the millennium-old cultural threads of eastern Anhui—from Eastern Han customs and the elegance of the Tang and Song dynasties to the splendor of the Ming era.

It incorporates historical narratives of upright officials caring for the people, literati leaving their marks, and the people of the Jianghuai region defending the nation, transforming a simple festive blessing ritual into a spiritual legacy of safeguarding homeland peace cherished by generations, bringing the dormant local history and culture vividly into the public eye.

The production employs modern equipment such as 3D mobile seating, holographic ice screens, and floodwater stage mechanisms, integrating boat water scenes and high-difficulty acrobatic performances to break the boundaries of traditional theater.

Zero-distance interaction with actors and immersive lighting and sound effects allow the audience to move beyond passive viewing.

Local resident Jin Min candidly shared that the production vividly recreates the local millennial cultural lineage, offering a more direct and impactful experience compared to books or documentaries, providing a deep appreciation of her hometown's cultural heritage and effectively strengthening a sense of local cultural identity and belonging.

The transmission of cultural heritage relies on the接力 of young forces. Actor Liu Ying explained that over two hundred performers and crew members for "Splendid Taiping" are predominantly "post-00s" young actors.

The team employs a youthful performance style to interpret traditional culture, striving to help the Taiping cultural heritage of eastern Anhui transcend regional limitations and make lesser-known intangible cultural heritage more widely recognized and appreciated.

"Taiping culture is not merely about simple prayers for safety; it is a spiritual belief rooted in the bloodline of the Chinese people," stated Kuang Shanshan, the project's General Manager.

She emphasized that the creative process strictly adheres to the principle of "innovation without subverting tradition," applying technological means judiciously, with all stage designs closely aligned with the storyline, transforming the audience from spectators into firsthand witnesses of history, making the ancient intangible heritage tangible, touchable, and relatable.

Shen Guo, Deputy Director of the Quanjiao County Culture and Tourism Bureau, noted that the regularized performances have completely broken the once-a-year dissemination limit of the "Walking for Taiping" tradition.

Coupled with the intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall, it facilitates the routine inheritance of folk customs, having already received over 120,000 visitors.

Simultaneously, the project addresses the local gap in high-end nighttime tourism formats, linking with the ancient town to create premium two-day tour itineraries, stimulating nighttime cultural tourism consumption, continuously polishing the Taiping and Rulin cultural IPs, and helping establish Quanjiao as a distinctive cultural tourism destination in the Yangtze River Delta region.