Yangzhou Cultural Center

Yangzhou Cultural Center

The Yangzhou Cultural Center, with roots dating back to the 1927-established People's Education Hall, was originally located at No. 2 Guoqing Road in the old city area. In 1984, a new building was constructed on the same site, giving rise to the Yangzhou Mass Art Center. In 2010, the municipal government decided to allocate the old library at No. 349 Weiyang Road to the Cultural Center and invested 10.87 million yuan in functional renovations. It was reopened on May 18, 2011. The Yangzhou Cultural Center is now a National First-Class Cultural Center.

The Yangzhou Cultural Center covers an area of 15,000 square meters, with a built-up area of 10,300 square meters. Its main building has four floors arranged in a corridor style. The first floor houses a comprehensive performance hall, a storytelling and opera theater, an exhibition hall, reception rooms, and service rooms; the second floor contains a intangible cultural heritage exhibition gallery, traditional opera activity rooms, a youth activity hall, and a general rehearsal hall; the third floor includes dance rehearsal rooms, large and small lecture halls, and office areas; the fourth floor hosts the Guangling Qin School Heritage Studio and art salons. In front of the main building lies a 6,000-square-meter mass arts plaza, which serves multiple functions—suitable for performances, film screenings, basketball games, fitness, and dancing. During the evaluation and acceptance process, an expert group from the Ministry of Culture commented: “The Yangzhou Cultural Center occupies the most central location, is equipped with the most comprehensive facilities, is adorned with the most beautiful surroundings, and provides the most thoughtful services—it can be regarded as a benchmark for cultural centers nationwide.”

Since the opening of the new building, the Yangzhou Cultural Center has consistently adhered to the service philosophy of “accessibility, zero threshold, complete public welfare, and round-the-clock availability.” Throughout the year, the comprehensive performance hall hosts over 150 shows, the storytelling and opera theater stages more than 220 performances, and the exhibition hall holds nearly 40 major exhibitions. The center organizes over 120 various training sessions and lectures annually, and arranges more than 40 outdoor movie screenings and performances on weekends. It welcomes around 800,000 visitors each year, truly becoming “a stage for the people and a paradise for culture.”

In recent years, the Cultural Center has successively hosted major events such as CCTV’s “Warm Square Everyone Sings,” the live broadcast of the “National Cultural Heritage Day Yangzhou Dongguan Ancient Ferry Intangible Cultural Heritage Performance,” “Our Festival – Dragon Boat Festival,” and the first and second editions of the Jiangsu Culture and Arts Festival in Yangzhou. It has also created influential event brands including the “Yangzhou Children’s Art Festival,” “Yangzhou Elderly Art Festival,” “Yangzhou Mass Cultural Works Performance,” and “Red Dance for the Motherland.” The center has supported and nurtured outstanding performing groups such as the “Yangzhou Tongxin Choir,” “Yangzhou KangLe Art Troupe,” and “Yangzhou Boai Art Troupe,” all of which have won numerous awards in domestic and international competitions and exchanges, continuously showcasing the charm of Yangzhou’s mass culture.

The Cultural Center emphasizes playing a leading role by strengthening business guidance for county and district cultural centers and providing professional training for township cultural station staff, promoting balanced development. In 2015, all six county (city) and district cultural centers in the city were rated as National First-Class Cultural Centers.

In addition, the Cultural Center also shoulders the significant responsibility of protecting intangible cultural heritage. Currently, the city has three UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritage projects, 19 national-level projects, 61 provincial-level projects, and 202 municipal-level projects. There are 21 national-level heritage bearers, 82 provincial-level bearers, and 278 municipal-level bearers. In 2015, the Cultural Center published the monograph “Yangzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage,” which provided a comprehensive summary of the city’s intangible cultural heritage protection efforts over the past decade. The content is detailed and the materials rich, receiving high praise from experts, scholars, and readers.

The Cultural Center continues to innovate and forge ahead, earning high attention and recognition from the media, leaders at all levels, experts, and widespread acclaim from the general public. In September 2013, it was recommended by the Provincial Department of Culture as a model window for public cultural services across the province. In October 2015, it was honored with the title of one of the “Top Ten Outstanding Cultural Centers in China.”