Sunday, August 25, 2024 The Chinese mythological hero Wukong, whose global popularity has soared due to a recently released video game, has also ignited a tourism surge as travelers flock to destinations rich in ancient architecture and Chinese cultural influence. The video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” developed in China and released on Tuesday, has generated widespread online discussion. Based on the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” where Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, plays a central role, the game’s impressive visuals and faithful recreation of ancient Chinese architecture have rapidly transformed several provinces and cities into trendy travel hotspots.
North China’s Shanxi province is one of the primary beneficiaries of this newfound tourism boom, contributing 27 out of the game’s 36 scenes, most of which are deeply rooted in Buddhist and Taoist culture. According to travel portal Tuniu, searches for Shanxi surged by 20 percent on Tuesday, immediately after the game’s release, compared to the previous day. This month, travel bookings to Shanxi have doubled from July, with the number of visits to the province increasing by 50 percent and hotel bookings soaring by 120 percent on the platform.
Qunar, another online travel agency, reported that by Wednesday morning, searches for Taiyuan, Shanxi’s capital, had risen by 10 percent compared to the previous week, with continued growth. Shanxi’s most popular destinations, as per Qunar, includ.