As a city with a history of over 2000 years of trading, transforming Guangzhou into a "Modern Business City" depends on innovation and opening up. This year, the city is to bring its sixth international shopping festival featuring a Canadian theme, with Canadian icons such as Niagara Falls and amazing maple forests.
For a large commercial city like Guangzhou, upgrade comes first in its traditional commercial districts, such as the Tianhe Road business area which is the city's core retail area with large shopping complexes like Grandview Mall, TeeMall, OneLinkWalk and TaiKoo Hui.
The Tianhe Road business area.
Also, the area has been the main venue for the city's international shopping festival since 2012. In recent years, Guangzhou has launched the shopping festivals in cooperation with brands from countries including Singapore, France, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US to bring in famous branded products and run cultural events. Traditional shopping malls have embraced more changes during this cooperation.
The 2016 Guangzhou International Shopping Festival featuring American elements.
"The international shopping festival has become a brand event for the integration of business and culture," according to Yang Yong, the deputy director-general of Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce.
"The 2017 Guangzhou International Shopping Festival is to be held from Sept 29 to Oct 28. In addition to featuring more than 100 famous Canadian brands, this year’s event will showcase Canada's various cultures and social history," said Xie Meng, the head of Tianhe Road's Chamber of Commerce.
For instance, dioramas featuring Canadian maple forests, Niagara Falls, Indigenous tribes and Bethune village will be set up in Grandview Mall. Furthermore, Sino-Canadian art shows including an opera and symphony will be held in Parc Central.
Other activities will cover a street music festival, street dances and performances given by Canadian bands Hello Canada and Beatleband.
The 2016 Guangzhou International Shopping Festival featuring American elements.
"The area needs to introduce more cultural elements by improving on existing infrastructure and organizing high-quality cultural activities," said Xie.
Nowadays, it seems that traditional shopping malls have become an important destination for consumption, leisure activities, service, cultural and arts exhibitions. They are benefiting from innovative schemes like this.
Statistics show that the combined sales value in Tianhe Road business area, reached 890 billion yuan last year, accounting for 17.5% of Guangzhou's total. Located in the area, Grandview Mall, TeeMall and TaiKoo Hui are all in the top 10 shopping centers nationwide in terms of sales figures.
What's more, the Tianhe Road retail district will become China's first business area with an annual sales value over one billion yuan, according to Zhang Haibo, the director of the Commerce and Financial Work Bureau of Tianhe District.
(Author: Will; Editor: Olivia, Simon Haywood)
