SHANGHAI, Feb. 09, 2026 — The inaugural “Discover Shanghai” travel guide competition, organized by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, wrapped up on February 1 with a globally live-streamed awards ceremony by Dragon TV. The months-long event collected over 8,000 entries, generated more than 250 million online views, and drew 83,000 physical participants, demonstrating the enduring energy of public co-creation for Shanghai’s cultural and tourism industries.
The professional division yielded concrete outcomes and meaningful industry intelligence. From 640 initial entries put forward by district-level agencies, 150 top-tier travel guides made it to the final round, resulting in 50 winners across first, second, and third prize tiers, plus another 50 recipients of specialized awards. Close to one-third of the finalist entries have been developed into reservable tourism offerings, delivering premium options for the Spring Festival travel season.
The public division ignited a municipal-wide tourism festival. With more than 8,000 submissions, it helped drive topic views on Douyin (China’s TikTok equivalent) past the 250 million mark. Spanning everything from refined professional productions to authentic, impromptu user-created material, and from famous sights to obscure treasures, this varied body of work painted a lively picture of Shanghai as an energetic, progressive, and hospitable metropolis. The hashtag “DiscoverShanghaiAtHalfPrice” repeatedly hit local trending lists, forging fresh tourism identities for the city as both budget-friendly and experience-packed.
Cross-sector innovation emerged in the AI music creation segment. More than 1,600 original tracks, fusing lyrical artistry with Shanghai’s iconic sites, racked up over 1.83 million listens, creating a novel avenue for advancing cultural tourism through the fusion of travel, melody, and technology.
Physical participation further confirmed the competition’s reach. During the New Year break, a municipal check-in initiative covering 351 sites and 28 curated pathways pulled in 83,000 visits in just three days.
The competition’s real worth showed in the market’s enthusiastic reaction. Searches for Shanghai-centric terms—covering sights, lodging, and dining—spiked on Douyin. For the Spring Festival period, Shanghai is rolling out 2,570 cultural and tourism events, coupled with major discounts and collaborative deals with leading venues, carriers, and digital travel agencies.
More than a fleeting phenomenon, the competition has built a lasting public co-creation framework where crowd-sourced material fuels web traffic, expert organizations transform ideas into commercial offerings, and official bodies supply policy backing. This self-reinforcing loop keeps tapping into Shanghai’s cultural and tourism assets citywide, revealing fresh settings, material, and merchandise.
Built on thousands of inventive contributions and massive in-person involvement, Shanghai demonstrates that the secret to premium tourism progress rests in the limitless possibilities of collective creation. While the first edition has ended, the inventive spirit and excitement it kindled keep expanding.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism
CONTACT: Contact person: Ms. Zhu, Tel: 86-10-63074558
