The mayor and vice-Party secretary of the city of Datong, Shanxi province, Li Junming, met with Mei Shuaiyuan, the chairman of the Scenery Culture Co, on Nov 3, to discuss ways to increase cooperation and development of the city's cultural and creative industries.

Scenery Culture deals in the design and production of Chinese landscaping shows, as well as cultural tourism projects. One of its programs -- Impression Liu Sanjie – is China’s first outdoor performance of its kind in the out-of-doors, in this case the mountains and rivers of Guilin, Guangxi region.

It has also been involved in 10 pioneering plays, such as "The Love Story of A Woodcutter and a Fairy Fox", "Zen Music Shaolin Ceremony", and "Fengshan: the Worship of Heaven and Earth on Mount Tai", which attract many people every year with their brand visibility.

Li thanked Mei for his visit and gave him a brief description of Datong's current situation, its history and culture, explaining that it is a place where people can travel, work, and live well, and has had rapid economic development.

Datong's Party committee and government have worked to boost its cultural and creative industries during an economic transition, Li went on to say, adding that Datong has lagged behind but has great potential. Li said he hopes Mei can learn more about the city and give its industry a push, to which Mei responded by saying he would like to to increase communication and cooperation for local economic development.

Cao Xuecheng, a member of the standing committee and deputy mayor of Datong, took part in the meeting.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw