Cosplayers on tour around Changchun

The closely-watched 15^th China (Changchun) International Animation Art Expo opened in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin province on June 8.

The expo attracted many animation enthusiasts with a wide variety of activities such as animation exhibition, contest, products, movies and Cosplay city tour.

The Cosplay city tour around Changchun was organized by Changchun Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)– Changchun and the organizing committee of the expo, under the guidance of the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

The Changchun tour took cosplayers to the city's landmarks including Jingyuetan Forest Park, World Sculpture Park, Culture Park, Changchun Film Studio, Deer Town, subway and Changchun West Railway Station on the expo's opening day.

The tour, the first of its kind, is part of Changchun's efforts to promote its cultural and tourism resources at times when it hosts exhibitions and conventions. Changchun hosts 100+ exhibitions and conventions every year, attracting a large number of exhibitors who also travel around Changchun as tourists, contributing significantly to local catering, lodging, tourism and shopping growth.

Meanwhile, the animation culture industry is expanding at a stunning rate in China, prompting efforts to bring animation and tourism together for mutual benefit.

The Changchun animation art expo, as a cultural brand of Changchun that has been developed for over a decade, attracts the attention of hundreds of thousands of young people every year.

Zhang Guanghui, director of international exhibitions and conventions at CIPIT-Changchun, said innovations that help improve the uniqueness and visitor stickiness of the Changchun animation art expo - such as the Cosplay city tour - can help the event achieve further growth both economically and culturally.

Cosplayers on the tour took photos and videos all the way along and posted them online in no time. Wherever they went, they attracted many people to watch and take group photos with them.

In Changchun's Shuangyang district, the cosplayers visited the Deer Town Museum where they were deeply thrilled by the sika deer culture.

Tian Ce, a cosplayer who had never visited the museum before, was really surprised by what he saw when he came to the museum's Antler Forest section, and struck various poses for photos with his companions.

Li Bing, an official of the Deer Town, said deer culture is rich and multi-dimensional and that the Deer Town will continue to explore its history, geography and culture to underpin local deer industry.

Also an initiative of culture and tourism integration, the 6^th Sika Deer Festival opened in Shuangyang district recently featuring deer culture-based tourism commodities. The commodities were very popular among tourists.