Culture Tourism

Cultural progress making Hefei better

By Ji Fan (China Daily Anhui Bureau)
Updated: 2011-04-28 17:18

In recent years, a series of projects have been launched in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui province, with the purpose of ensuring residents' basic cultural needs and making their life better.

Through implementation of these projects, the cultural level of local citizens scored a new high after some influential activities were held, and Hefei's soft strength of culture was enhanced.

In 2009，local government invested about 700m yuan ($107 m) in the construction of Hefei Grand Theatre, which is located on the shore of the Swan Lake and ranks among the first-class theatres in China. And Beijing Poly Theatre Management Co., Ltd was brought in to be its administrative unit.

The theatre is composed of show stages and a concert hall. In the past two years, shows performed here include famous Russian ballets such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, America's Broadway musical 42nd Street, grand classical dance drama The Peony Pavilion, Kris Phillips (Fei Xiang) 2010 Hefei Concert and so on.

Moreover, the theatre opens free at regular intervals for citizens to visit. Art talks and local concerts sometimes are also held to popularize knowledge on fine arts. With 82 percent annual average box-office rate, 12,877 visitors have come to Hefei Grand Theatre to enjoy some 300 shows. It is a good example for the cultural construction and development of Hefei.

In addition, the various cities and counties in Anhui often hold mass theatrical festivals from time to time to promote popular cultural activities. Cultural infrastructure has been strengthened and various types of popular culture are boosted.

During the 11th Five-Year-Plan Period (2016-10), Hefei maintained the human desires as its main focus and made every effort to serve the people. Money invested in livelihood projects exceeded 9 billion yuan, benefiting over 4million residents.

More than 500,000 new jobs were provided, and registered unemployment rate in Hefei is confined to 4.5 percent. Urban zero-employment families get to be wiped out, which helps stabilize Hefei’s employment situation.

These positive numbers sketch out a general picture for Hefei's bright future. Cultural reform and development is in need of building a harmonious society. And with the cooperation of government and all the citizens, people's life will surely get better and happiness Index of residents in Hefei will climb ever higher.