The Jinshanling section of the Great Wall in Luanping County, Chengde City, north China's Hebei Province.

The over-500-kilometer-long Great Wall of the Qi state, dating back over 2,600 years, now stands as a popular attraction for visitors exploring Jinan, capital of Shandong Province. In Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, the "Long March–themed" red tourism is widely acclaimed, allowing visitors to retrace the Red Army's Long March route in the 1930s. Many visitors roam along the Grand Canal to feel the Chinese wisdom of the Xiejia Dam in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, for locals adopted the sticky rice grouting technique while building the dam some 200 years ago. The picturesque Wuxia Gorge, one of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, makes visitors linger. 

China is actively creating national cultural parks dedicated to the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, breathing life into numerous dormant cultural treasures.

Initially conceived in China, the national cultural park serves not only as a significant cultural space to preserve the collective memory of Chinese communities, but also as a crucial pillar for enhancing China's cultural confidence and strength in the modern era.

Recently, China News Release reporters made a special interview with Han Ziyong, general coordinator of the National Cultural Park Expert Advisory Committee, to explore ancient Chinese civilization contained in these national cultural parks.

CHINA NEWS RELEASE: The national cultural park is a major cultural project of China. What do you think is the deeper meaning behind the national project? And what's the difference between the "national cultural park" and the "national park" ?

Han Ziyong: National parks primarily focus on safeguarding national ecosystems and natural heritage sites, housing distinctive, rare, significant and representative geological, natural, and flora and fauna resources. These extensive land spaces are dedicated to environmental preservation, drawing inspiration from the U.S. model. The creation of national parks in China was one of the key reform objectives proposed during the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2013.