BEIJING, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The third season of the much-anticipated cultural reality show “The Shape of Culture: China in the Heritage Sites” will return to Zhejiang Satellite Television on December 18th. This brand-new season focuses on the stories and tales of ordinary people who are the protectors and inheritors of World Heritage in China.
Co-produced by Guo Wen Culture, Zhejiang Satellite Television, and Tencent Video, the third season of “The Shape of Culture” is themed “telling the World Heritage stories with warmth,” and will tell how people carry on promoting World Heritages in Chinese culture through depicting the street life of World Heritage Sites, showing stories of people dedicated to preserving the World Heritage and presenting different facets of heritage to the audience.
“The Shape of Culture,” launched in 2021, aims to inspire more young people to start their own journeys of cultural exploration and discovery, treasure the profound aspects of Chinese culture and play a positive role in guarding world cultural heritage.
The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys: the Culture and Spirit across 1,000 years
The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fujian Province is one of the larger-scale and well-preserved historical and cultural districts in China. It’s known as the “living fossil of China’s urban lifang (urban unit) system” and “museum of Chinese Ming and Qing Dynasty architectures.” The “youth troupe” will explore the district in two groups to answer two questions from their personal experience: why do we protect the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys? what have these cultural heritage brought to people in today’s society?
It’s widely acknowledged that one can discover half of China’s modern and contemporary history in the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, where a great number of influential people who left indelible imprints on China’s development once lived. These historical figures include Yan Fu, “the first Chinese to master Western studies;” and Lin Juemin, a patriotic revolutionary who wrote the greatest love letter of the 20th century and so on.
The “youth troupe” will follow Zheng Guozhen, deputy director of China Cultural Relics Academy, and Xu Lingyi, associate editor-in-chief of “HOMELAND” magazine, to trace the stories of well-known historic figures of Fujian in the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys.
Shan Jixiang, director of China Cultural Relics Academy, who served as the curator of the Palace Museum in Beijing between 2012 and 2019, and Tang Jiuzhou and Chen He, members of the “youth troupe”, will take on the challenge of learning Wing Chun, a classic martial art style and China’s national intangible cultural heritage. But before they get started, they must “memorize and recite” the doctrine of Wing Chun and understand its culture and philosophy of life.
“The Shape of Culture” goes against the stereotype of promoting world heritage sites over the three seasons. Hence, people can gain fresh insights into these cultural icons through captivating tales and touching stories. At the same time, the show also explores how world heritage influence people’s everyday lives. The show portrays how people get to experience the World Heritage and carry on this treasured aspect of Chinese traditional culture and the unique emotional connections that are made along the way.
In addition to the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fujian, the third season will visit a total of 12 World Heritage sites and destinations across China including The Great Wall in Beijing; the Historic Centre of Macao; Liling of Hunan Province; and Qufu of Shandong Province.