So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend in Hebei: Heritage Living Utilization, Protection Tensions, and Pathways in a Provincial Brand Wave

Huojiang Rong; Shuai Li

doi:10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786519.20260703

PDF
Export
Share
Collection
Album

Volume 7, Issue 3

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend in Hebei: Heritage Living Utilization, Protection Tensions, and Pathways in a Provincial Brand Wave
So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend in Hebei: Heritage Living Utilization, Protection Tensions, and Pathways in a Provincial Brand Wave
1.School of Marxism, Tangshan Maritime Institute, Tangshan, Hebei, 063200, China
2.School Youth League Committee, Tangshan Maritime Institute, Tangshan, Hebei, 063200, China
Vol. 7, Issue 3, Pages: 85-91(2026)
Online First：04 August 2026，

Published：30 June 2026
DOI：10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786519.20260703
Accepted：

Scan QR Code

Rong Huojiang,Li Shuai.So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend in Hebei: Heritage Living Utilization, Protection Tensions, and Pathways in a Provincial Brand Wave[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):85-91.
DOI：

Rong Huojiang,Li Shuai.So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend in Hebei: Heritage Living Utilization, Protection Tensions, and Pathways in a Provincial Brand Wave[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):85-91. DOI： 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786519.20260703.

摘要

Abstract

The Weekend in Hebei provincial branding campaign generated over 30 billion online interactions by May 2026. But its effects across Hebei cities are sharply uneven. Tangshan

an industrial city without National Famous Historical and Cultural City status

achieved spectacular visitor numbers with Hetou Old Street—6.69 million visits in 2024

68.43% from outside Tangshan. By contrast

Zhengding

with ten national heritage units

and Baoding

with the Western Qing Tombs World Heritage site

produced virtually no heritage-related brand buzz. This disparity points to a deeper question: what does a massive tourism brand wave mean for the heritage of different protection grades? Drawing on policy text analysis

four-city comparative fieldwork

and a visitor survey (N=200) conducted in May 2025 at Hetou Old Street

this article adopts a heritage living utilization perspective. It examines the structural tension between heritage objective value and market conversion efficiency

and finds that low-grade industrial heritage

with fewer regulatory constraints

can be rapidly transformed into living utilization models but at the cost of reduced authenticity perception. High-grade national and World Heritage sites

constrained by rigid protection regimes

systematically underperform in brand activation and risk marginalization by traffic-seeking logic. The paper proposes the principle of institutional complementarity—not one giving way to the other

but differentiated mechanisms for different protection grades within the brand framework.

关键词

Keywords

references

Jia Nan, Song Ping. "So Close, So Beautiful, Weekend Trip to Hebei" Goes Viral [N]. Hebei Daily, 2026-03-23(002).

Feng Yang. Further Advancing the Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and Activating the Driving Force of High-Quality Development [N]. Hebei Daily, 2026-05-01(002).

Lu Jun, Cai Haohui, Tao Wei. Trends in Critical Heritage Studies and Advances in Heritage Geography Research: Paradigms and Issues [J]. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 2025, 45(11): 2531-2542.

Yao Yuehua, Xu Wenyun. From Industrial Relics to Cultural Landmarks: A Report from Hetou Old Street in Tangshan [J]. Communist Party Member (Hebei), 2026, (04): 9-10.

Yu Boyi, Gong Jianyu. Strategies for Enhancing the Communication Power of Regional Cultural Tourism Blocks in Hebei Province: A Case Study of Hetou Old Street in Tangshan [J]. Journal of Tangshan University, 2026, 39(02): 83-89.

Du Wanfen, Ma Li. Evaluation of the Development Potential and Strategies for Cultural Tourism Resources in Handan City [J]. Tourism Overview, 2022, (15): 7-9.

Law of the People's Republic of China on Protection of Cultural Relics [J]. Gazette of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, 2025, (05): 3-17.

Wang N. Rethinking Authenticity in Tourism Experience [J]. Annals of Tourism Research, 1999, 26(2): 349-370.

Smith L. Uses of Heritage [M]. London: Routledge, 2006.

Bruner E. Abraham Lincoln as Authentic Reproduction [J]. American Anthropologist, 1994, 96(2): 397-415.

Li Yong. Exploring the Development Path of Weekend Leisure Tourism in Hebei in the New Era [J]. Economic Forum, 2025, (03): 65-72.

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett B. Destination Culture [M]. Berkeley: UC Press, 1998.

Plaza B. The Guggenheim-Bilbao Museum Effect [J]. Tourism Management, 2000, 21(5): 481-492.

Zhang Chaozhi, Xu Honggang. Heritage Tourism and Heritage Management [M]. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2020.

Song Rui. Report on the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism in China (2024) [M]. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2024.

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

The Social Value of Rubbing as a Cultural Heritage Conservation Tool: A Media Design Perspective

An Analysis of the Integration Paths of Digital Art and Cultural Creativity in the New Media Era

Li Ziqi and Jiang Xunqian: A Comparative Analysis of Narrative Strategies in Intangible Cultural Heritage Short Videos

Research on the Digital Inheritance and Dissemination of Sichuan Opera Empowered by AIGC

The Spiritual Collapse in "Young Goodman Brown" from the Perspective of Ethical Literary Criticism

Related Author

Yuji Jin Beijing Union University, College of Art

Wenli Wang Beijing Union University, College of Art

Le Zhang Beijing Union University, College of Art

Chenxi Liu Beijing Union University, College of Art

Related Institution

Beijing Union University, College of Art

⁰