Creative sector adds charm to city

Chengdu, a mega-city in western China, is striving to develop its cultural industry and transform itself into western China’s creative cultural center.

A key step in this plan is to introduce fi rst-class music events from around the world.

The Umbria Jazz Festival, one of the world’s most important jazz festivals that originated in Italy, was introduced to Chengdu this month.

The event was held in the city from Oct 17 to 23. Chengdu was the fi fth city on the Chinese mainland to hold the festival, but the Chengdu version was the largest held in China.

The Chengdu event was similar to the winter edition of Umbria Jazz, with resident artists performing every day.

During the festival, eight bands from Italy and the United States gave 62 performances at the main venue as well as at landmarks in Chengdu such as Tianfu Square, Kuanzhai Alley, Chunxi Road and Park 321.

The main venue was at the Eastern Suburb Memory, a cultural park in the east of the city.

Stefano Mazzoni, vice-president of Umbria Jazz Foundation, said the Chengdu festival is a new stop for the promotion of Italian jazz around the world after many initiatives carried out in recent years at international level.

“China is a country that offers the greatest opportunities for development, and for jazz it is an almost unexplored terrain. We will continue to impress the Chinese with Umbria Jazz and throw ourselves into this new adventure with great enthusiasm,” he said.

Bougainvillea Music Festival, one of the largest outdoor music events in Asia that features electronic music, was held in Chengdu on Oct 15 and 16.

The festival, which originated in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, attracted some of the world’s top DJs, including DV&LM, Diego Miranda, Vicetone, Wolfpack, Anti-General and Da.

Qiu Feng, the festival’s founder and vice chairman of Electronic Music Alliance of China, said he had been planning to introduce the festival to Chengdu for a long time.

“As a city with rich cultural resources and fertile ground for music, Chengdu has great potential in the development of music industry,” he said. “So I chose Chengdu as the fi rst place to expand our presence across the whole country.”

Qiu said he will set up the Southwest China headquarters of his company in Chengdu. The Chengdu operation will include the music industry’s full industrial chain of music. As well as the music festival, his company will develop a series of programs in Chengdu, including an electronic music label and a live platform for original music.

The city played host to the fourth Bailu•French Classical Music Festival from Sept 28 to Oct 2 in Bailu township, Pengzhou, with famous musicians from China and France performing there.

Several forums and salons on the development of the music industry were held during the festival.

The China final of the Nice International Piano Competition was also held in Chengdu, with 39 of the 200 competitors chosen to compete in the world fi nal in France.

In August, Chengdu offi cials released a policy to boost the development of the music industry. The city plans to develop several industrial parks to host leading companies in the music sector, and form a high-end modern music industrial system. The annual output value of its music industry is expected to reach 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) by 2025.

Chengdu is also upgrading its infrastructure to support the development of its creative and music industries. It is planning to build major cultural and sports facilities, including a music hall, a grand theater, an Olympic sports center and a natural history museum.

Construction of the music hall started on Oct 18, and the venue is expected to open to the public in 2018. It will be a complex building featuring classic design and complete functions

“The music hall will be world-class in its exterior design, scale, functions and technology. It will be a new cultural landmark for Chengdu,” said Shi Jiang, director of the city’s bureau of culture, broadcasting, television, press and publications.

He said the hall will be used as the main venue for world-class musical performances and as a platform to provide high-quality public services to citizens.

DJS IN E-SPORTS GAMES COSTUMES perform at the Bougainvillea Music Festival in Chengdu on Oct 15. SHENG MENGSHU / FOR CHINA DAILY

AN ITALIAN JAZZ BAND performs at the Umbria Jazz Festival on Oct 17. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY