In recent years, Shandong province has placed great importance on the inheritance and development of culture, and it has strived to set a new benchmark for cultural innovation and entrepreneurship in China.

The province, a cradle for the Chinese civilization and home to numerous cultural relics and historical sites, is taking an array of measures to advance cultural endeavors such as conducting archaeological excavation and research, protecting relics, compiling ancient books and creating artworks.

Earlier this year, archaeologists discovered an ancient hominid site dating back 13,200 years in Zhaojiaxuyao village, Shandong's Zibo city, filling a knowledge gap in the region. The site was named as one of the country's top 10 new archaeological discoveries last year.

Shandong has also replicated more than 1,600 kinds of rare ancient books and documents during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), published a collection of Confucian Classics with 1,816 volumes, and compiled the large-scale literature Qilu Library with 6,000 categories.

Cultural tourism

Additionally, the province is boosting the in-depth integration of culture and tourism, creating a top tourist destination with international style, Chinese characteristics and local charm. This will accelerate the promotion of the "Friendly Shandong" brand.

Shandong has made great strides in building national parks, and has constructed four cultural corridors along the Yellow River, the Grand Canal, the Great Wall of Qi, and the Huanghai and Bohai seas. It has also created one cultural experience route along the Qingdao-Jinan high-speed railway.

Relying on its profound intangible cultural heritage and traditional craftsmanship, Shandong explores new models of cultural inheritance through creative innovation. It has carried out the "Handmade in Shandong" project to promote traditional crafts, launched the Yellow River-themed cultural fair, and empowered rural vitalization by boosting cultural industries.

Shandong plans to continue extending strong sci-tech support for high-quality and sustainable growth, while also innovating new ways to express traditional culture. For example, through blockchain technology, digital collections of six 5A-grade scenic spots were released to the public. Adopting cloud computing, the Jinan Digital Museum's platform has gathered more than 700 3D collections as well as data on 50,000 cultural relics.

Culture in everyday life

Shandong combines traditional cultures with core socialist values. By integrating cultural innovation and entrepreneurship into the construction of spiritual civilization, Shandong makes full use of civilized activities in the new era. It has normalized voluntary services and built about 5,000 New Era Civilization Practice Centers.