Wearing MR (Mixed Reality) glasses, the mythical beasts from the ancient book "Classic of Mountains and Seas" seem to "break out of the scroll," and as your gaze moves, an immersive cultural scroll unfolds one after another.

At the MOXR booth, Kaziro Glass Mukisa, a social media blogger from Uganda, was captivated by the amazing experience and lingered there for a long time. He frequently reached out to interact with the virtual images, as if he had stepped into a fantastical journey where reality and imagination blended.

"When tourists wear MR glasses, they can see both the real environment and the virtual content superimposed on it, creating a strong immersive experience," explained a staff member at the booth. They added that related projects can be customized for different spaces such as scenic spots, museums, and shopping malls, allowing traditional cultural content to reach tourists in a more immersive and interactive way.

From September 3rd to 6th, the 2026 China Cultural Tourism Industry Expo, themed "Deepening the Integration of Culture and Tourism to Create a Better Life," was held in Tianjin. The expo featured exhibition areas showcasing new cultural tourism business models and a future cultural tourism experience hall, highlighting the practical applications of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, VR, and big data. The integration of technology and cultural tourism was a major highlight.

From "traveling through mountains and rivers" to "traveling through time and space," digital technology is transforming static landscapes into interactive and narrative cultural spaces. As smart tourism becomes increasingly integrated into people's lives, "poetry and distant places" are transforming from aspirations into everyday experiences.

Inside the exhibition hall, an AI+XR smart bookstore attracted many visitors. The enclosed, silent reading pod integrates VR immersive reading with AI-generated text, allowing visitors to "step into" the world of books in a quiet space. Currently, this smart bookstore has gathered over 50 high-quality XR content titles, covering themes such as revolutionary culture, historical science, and family entertainment.

"I usually read physical books or look at electronic screens. I never imagined that I could wear VR glasses and 'walk' into a book in a bookstore. It's very novel," said Ms. Liu, a tourist.

“Chinese ancient poems and historical stories can be transformed into digital assets, allowing traditional culture to be presented in a more vivid way,” said Yang Weixin, executive vice president of Beijing BlueFocus Future Technology Co., Ltd.

Xiang Yong, Dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, believes that digital technology is driving the cultural industry to shift from traditional digital channels to immersive, comprehensive, and in-depth experiences.

The "Digital China Development Report (2025)" released by the National Bureau of Data Science shows that the integrated development of "artificial intelligence + culture and tourism" has formed a good momentum of coordinated development. The application of AI big data models has enabled the transformation of cultural and tourism services from "standardized supply" to "personalized interaction", and the intelligent tourism experience has been further upgraded.

At the Zhejiang booth, a seemingly ordinary pair of Leqi smart glasses brought the "travel companion" to the audience. Wearing the glasses, users can capture memorable moments with photos, provide real-time cross-border translation, and enjoy precise intelligent navigation—various AI functions are readily available. Strolling through unfamiliar city streets, tourists only need to ask a question or even just a glance, and this "smart companion" will understand and provide seamless and considerate companionship.

"Many of the products we brought are aimed at the consumer market, and we hope to let the public feel that technology can add more fun to tourism," said Li Yang, a person in charge of the Digital Cultural Tourism Industry (Hangzhou) Alliance.

From wearable devices to online platforms, AI is constantly pushing the boundaries of the tourist experience. Staff at the China Travel Digital Technology Co., Ltd. booth explained that through the Cloudscape Cultural Heritage Mini Program, tourists can not only use intelligent guides in 11 languages, AI digital avatar explanations, and itinerary planning, but also generate vlogs with a single click, transforming their visit into videos and social media content. Currently, the platform has been launched for hundreds of cultural heritage venues, scenic spots, and historical districts across the country.

The "15th Five-Year Plan for Building a Tourism Powerhouse" proposes to cultivate immersive smart tourism experience projects and promote excellent smart tourism solutions. The new scenes showcased at the expo are vivid examples of how smart tourism is increasingly integrating into the public's cultural and tourism experience. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)