“Net Celebrity City” Should Be Able to Be “Net Red” and Will Be “Long Red”

Wu Xue'an

As a famous winter tourist destination, Harbin's unique ice and snow landscapes, rich entertainment activities, and thick ice and snow culture have attracted countless tourists' attention. This winter, Harbin will organize 8 ice sculpture and snow sculpture events and activities, including 2 international ice sculpture events and 6 domestic ice sculpture events. The scale is unprecedented, the scope is wide-ranging, and the content is rich. "Meet Harbin, Warm the World with Ice and Snow" has become a hot topic on social media. Harbin City Cultural and Tourism Bureau expresses to the public that it will push forward the development of cultural tourism in all aspects, including eating, living, traveling, shopping, and entertainment, and offer a high-quality tourism experience to global tourists.

As of 2024, China has had 685 cities, with intense competition between them. "Net Celebrity City" is a new concept that uses the internet to promote city images under this background. The birth of "Net Celebrity City" is fundamentally related to the high-quality development of cities. Its essence is attention economics - whoever attracts more public attention and concern can obtain more resources, including population, finance, technology, and information, and gain a leading advantage in fierce city competition.

In Lanzhou, I had a plate of numbingly spicy noodles that wrapped me up like a red oil-filled blanket, arousing my curiosity about this ancient city; in Shanghai, I followed the steps of "Flowers" and went on a city stroll, feeling the charm and rhythm of old Shanghai; in Guizhou, I took part in the "village super" and immersed myself in the "hot and spicy" atmosphere of football... In recent years, many "Net Celebrity Cities" have emerged, giving tourists an updated travel experience and setting off a wave of consumption that has become a phenomenon. Everyone sees the vibrant vitality of cities.

Becoming a "net celebrity city" is a victory in urban image communication and marketing, but behind it is the comprehensive reflection of urban cultural connotation, development concept, and public service level. The high popularity of "Net Celebrity Cities" is actually the result of the combined action of various factors such as urban culture, economic strength, population scale, and technological progress. Urban image enhancement directly leads to the growth of cultural tourism. For example, Chongqing's traditional label is hot pot, small face, beauty, while on short video platforms, cable cars crossing buildings, 720-degree rotating bridges, and the deepest metro stations in the country have become new "net celebrity attractions", giving Chongqing a new nickname - "8D Fantasy Mountain City". On social media platforms, Chongqing's unique terrain and landscape have created a batch of "net celebrity attractions", attracting tens of thousands of tourists every year.

"Net Celebrity Cities" are a dynamic case study of urban innovation image communication. It is not just the beginning but also the end. How to maintain the sustainability of attention economy is a big challenge, and if we only focus on superficial forms without substance, it may be like a fleeting moment. On one hand, shaping and promoting city images must not just consider appearance and not care about substance; on the other hand, in order to create a unique city brand, we must do well in high-quality development from soft culture to hard industry, from urban construction to micro-management, from smoky atmosphere to fashionable feeling.

Becoming a "net celebrity" is a victory in urban image communication and marketing, but behind it is the comprehensive reflection of urban cultural connotation, development concept, and public service level. On one hand, city administrators must respond to new communication rules, make top-level designs, encourage more people to participate, and tell their own stories from the perspective of the masses; on the other hand, we should turn attention into driving force, optimize business environments, and this is reflected in a city's long-term vision. High-quality urban development ultimately depends on these driving forces. It is gratifying that more and more "net celebrity cities" are aware that becoming "net red" is not as important as how to maintain "long red". When cities become more livable, city life becomes more beautiful, and has greater development potential, there will be more propaganda materials, making "net celebrity cities" continue to thrive. Expecting "net celebrity cities" to take advantage of the good momentum and transform themselves into a long-lasting "long red"!

This article represents the author's personal opinions only.