“This is my second time to watch Impression Dahongpao. Sitting on the open stage between the mountains and the water, enjoying a large-scale live performance and tasting a cup of tea-scented Wuyi Dahongpao, it is too shocking and enjoyable.” Recently, Ms. Chen, a tourist from Guangdong, said excitedly after watching Impression Dahongpao in Wuyishan, Fujian.
“The god left the stone hearth behind and placed it in the center of the water. When the tea drinking was over, he rowed away, leaving only the fragrance of the tea in its place.” This is the famous Song Dynasty rationalist, poet Zhu Xi's vivid depiction of Wuyi “Shanshui tea”. In order to allow tourists to fully appreciate this unique charm, Wuyi Mountain invited the famous director Zhang Yimou, Wang Chaoge, Fan Yue together to create the fifth impression of the work——a large-scale landscape live-action show Impression of Dahongpao, to fill the Wuyi Mountain night tour of the economic industry of the blank.
Impression Dahongpao takes the natural landscape of Wuyi Mountain, a world cultural and natural dual heritage site, as the background and tea culture as the theme, and skillfully integrates the natural landscape, tea culture and Wuyi Mountain's characteristic folk culture. At present, this large-scale landscape live-action show has become the iconic IP of Wuyi Mountain tourism.
Since its official performance on March 29, 2010, Impression Dahongpao has been favored by domestic and foreign tourists, and has become a “must-see performance on the first night of Wuyi Mountain” for countless audiences. According to statistics, as of April 30, 2024, Impression Dahongpao has performed nearly 6,000 shows, received more than 8 million visitors, and earned more than 1 billion yuan from ticket sales. During the Spring Festival this year, Impression Dahongpao created a record of four consecutive days of five performances per night, the number of viewers per night reached more than 10,000 times.
“Impression Dahongpao is loved by tourists mainly because of the natural and humanistic connotations of Wuyi Mountain, which is empowered by science and technology to show the real mountains and waters of Wuyi Mountain in an all-round way, as well as the unique charm of Wuyi Tea Culture, so as to allow tourists to have an immersive experience.” Zheng Bin, general manager of Impression Dahongpao Co. said.
Wuyi Mountain is the birthplace of oolong tea and black tea, the starting point of the “Ten Thousand Miles Tea Route”, and enjoys the reputation of “the hometown of Chinese tea culture and art”. On November 29, 2022, “China's traditional tea-making techniques and their related practices”, including the production techniques of Wuyi Rock Tea (Dahongpao) were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“In order to excavate and display the profound tea culture of Wuyi Mountain, Impression Dahongpao integrates the real mountain and water with the stage performance, creates the performance area of antique houses, highland performance area, sandbar area and river performance area, etc., and through various forms of expression such as dance, drama, music, etc., it vividly displays the history of Dahongpao, the production techniques, tea art and local folklore such as respecting tea. It allows visitors to feel the subtlety of Wuyi rock tea production techniques and the spirit of the tea ceremony that has been passed down for thousands of years.” said Wu Meiqiu, head of the Art Troupe of Impression Dahongpao Co.
It is commendable that Impression Dahongpao has also made bold innovations in technology, and one of the most prominent innovations is the world's first 360-degree rotating auditorium. “This auditorium integrates high-tech into the steel-frame structure, breaking the mode of watching the show from a fixed position in the traditional auditorium, which can complete a 360-degree smooth rotation in 5 minutes, with a visual radius of the seat of more than 2 kilometers, and the stage is connected on all four sides, stretching out the magnificent meteorology of the 10,000-meter-long scroll.” Wu Meiqiu said, the 70 minutes of performance of the scene of hundreds of “tea farmers” tea production process is magnificent, the legend of the scholar and the Dahongpao is simple and moving, coupled with the world's first 360-degree rotation of the audience, so that the audience were surprised again and again.
At the same time, the performance site also set up 15 movie screens, perfectly integrated into the natural landscape, composed of “matrix” ultra-wide live-action movie scene, the interpretation of the performance effect is really real. The treacherous Dawang Peak, the sound of gurgling water, as well as full of green tea plantations and other scenes, let the tourists feel the unique charm of the Wuyi mountains and tea in an uninterrupted, immersive way, truly feel the “painting tour” of wonderful experience.
“In recent years, the enterprise has paid more than 100 million yuan in taxes, becoming a large taxpayer and being recognized as a tax-paying A-class enterprise. At the same time, we also actively drive the employment of local villagers, of which 80% of the more than 300 actors are Wuyishan locals.” Zheng Bin introduced, the impression of the Impression Dahongpao Co., Ltd. adhere to the social benefits in the first place, and strive to achieve the unity of social and economic benefits. The company also realizes the goal of expanding its development space through the renovation and upgrading of the 4A-level tourist attraction China Tea Expo Park, the operation of the Wuyishan Digital Tea Expo Hall, and the building of the Impression Jianzhou Food Street. In addition, Impression Dahongpao has boosted the income of local travel agencies, hotels, catering, tourist fleets and tour guides, promoting the long-term development of the tea industry and furthering the Wuyi Shanshui Tea brand.
One point of cultivation, one point of harvest. In recent years, Impression Dahongpao has won many honors and awards for its unique night-time live performance: it has been selected as one of the National Tourism Performing Arts Excellence List and “Influential Tourism Performing Arts Cases in China's Tourism Industry”; and Impression Dahongpao Co., Ltd. has been honored as one of the Top Ten Cultural Enterprises in Fujian Province, Fujian Leading Tourism Enterprises, and National Cultural Industry Demonstration Base.
“Have you put your troubles down? Yes! Have you put down your complaints? Yes! Have you put down your depression? Yes! ...... Remember to have a cup of tea sometime, and I wish you all happiness.” When the performance of Impression Dahongpao came to an end, the actors shouted loudly, causing the whole audience of tourists to echo. The actors offered a cup of Dahongpao with both hands, inviting the tourists to put down their worries and drink a cup of tea in this dreamlike night. Everyone drank it all in one go, with a big smile on their faces, they were full of love for Wuyi mountain water and tea, and brought happiness home.
Impression Dahongpao rooted in Wuyi Mountain on this piece of land, constantly adhere to righteousness and innovation, and constantly activate the vitality of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, deepen the integration of culture and tourism, so that the ‘performing arts + tourism’ glows with a new luster.