Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
With the new titles of "Creative City of Music" and "Creative City of Gastronomy," the Chinese cities of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province and Quanzhou in Fujian Province have recently been added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) respectively. UCCN is the UNESCO’s flagship program of equal importance to its World Heritage List.
How did Wuxi and Quanzhou make their names known globally despite not being China’s largest or most renowned cities? Their inclusion actually sends a clear message: Urban creativity is not measured by a city’s size or fame, but by how its creative legacy is woven into the fabric of local life.
It must be noted that long before their recognition as world creative cities, both Wuxi and Quanzhou possessed creative expertise that was not made in modern times, but rather was rooted in their local history.
Taking Wuxi as an example, the city’s musical expertise stretches back to the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC), during which over 400 musical instruments were buried at a local archaeological site. Onward from there, the city’s music heritage continued to evolve. Modern musicians like Hua Yanjun, better known as Abing in China, was nurtured by the city and created the masterpiece "Erquan Yingyue" (lit: The Moon’s Reflection in the Second Spring), one of China’s most renowned erhusongs.
On the one hand, these coherent historical roots allowed Wuxi to highlight music as its cultural character. On the other hand, they also granted the city’s creative development a unique theme. In other words, to carve out a one-of-the-kind cultural identity, a city must distill a distinct theme from its local traditions.
However, if this distilled thematic heritage merely ends up as a static record or archives in museums, rather than a growing asset, it will then fail to transform a city’s ancient creativity into modern power. That’s to say, what has made Wuxi a creative city is not its ancient musical history alone, but how this history was transformed into fuel for the city’s contemporary growth. Often, such growth should be sustainable and include dynamic aspects such as the music industry, education, its related manufacturing economy, exchanges and more.
For example, Wuxi now stands as the world’s largest producer of the erhuinstrument, meanwhile, its "erhuin schools" initiative has been widely implemented in local education. As domestic music enthusiasts flock to the Wuxi Taihu Music Festival, local music groups are also bringing their best to perform in countries such as Russia, France, and Germany.
The city’s creative system is like a loop, connecting heritage, people, industry and societal growth. It is through this loop that music brings tangible economic benefits, simultaneously solidifying the city’s cultural identity. This outcome is a living example of why UNESCO notes that creative cities are "championing creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development."
Like Wuxi, Quanzhou has also built its gastronomy into a city brand, generating a sustained cycle woven together with local cuisine, culinary exchanges, gourmet cultural tourism, and more.
Yet, such a self-contained cycle of achievement is not enough - a creative city must also embrace a spirit of sharing.
The UCCN title is therefore not a one-time reward, but should be seen as a platform for cities of similar heritages but with different cultural backgrounds to learn from one another. For instance, in addition to Quanzhou and Wuxi, the Spanish city of Cuenca is also recognized as a City of Gastronomy, while Kisumu in Kenya is renowned for its musical heritage.
Be it in Asia, Africa, or Europe, a city that inspires others with its creativity must have a spirit of multicultural inclusiveness. Since ancient times, as a crucial hub along the Maritime Silk Road, Quanzhou’s culinary culture has exemplified this very spirit of exchange.
In local signature dishes such as jiang mu ya, or "ginger duck," one can taste the spices that were introduced to China via the Maritime Silk Road in ancient times. A steaming bowl of Minnan-style homemade mianxian hu(lit: thin noodle soup paste) can even evoke a shared memory that connects the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan through their common roots.
As the city’s label, "gastronomy" has evolved beyond mere food, or a pillar of local food industrial growth, to become a soft bond that connects people through shared sentiment. Such a transformation also reveals that a city’s creative asset is not confined to physical value, but lies in its capacity to foster human connections and build collective identity through shared cultural experiences.
Hence, as a lubricant for cultural exchange, a city’s creative label should be further developed into various forms of activities - such as food festivals and expos - to better engage with global visitors while bringing new resources to local development.
Including the two newly added Chinese cities, the UCCN now comprises 408 cities across more than 100 countries and regions. Among them are also China’s major metropolises Shanghai and Beijing.
In the future, more off-line collaborations are good means to tie the network closer together. Such collaborations can take the form of thematic meetings and specialized working groups to share field-specific solutions, organizing regular policy dialogues and technical workshops to address common urban challenges, as well as establishing "sister city" partnerships within the network.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/1110/c90000-20388661.html