Shanghai Initiates Blockchain-powered ‘Cultural Tourism’

Shanghai’s busy central Jing’an District will make use of a WeChat platform to issue blockchain-powered “cultural tourism” vouchers that can be redeemed for book purchases, streaming services, cinema tickets and more.

Per China Email, the vouchers will be distributed on a WeChat widget platform operated by the district’s Cultural Tourism Bureau.

The district is home to around 1.5 million residents, and the Tourism Bureau said that blockchain technology will allow it to issue vouchers more effectively and do away with paper-based vouchers. The technology will also allow the bureau to analyze data on what people are spending their vouchers on and how many people are redeeming them.

The bureau said it will issue new vouchers every day, with redeemable values varying from just under USD 1 to USD 9.

The program will target employees, students and other residents, said the organization – and the bureau said that theaters in the district will also accept the vouchers performances, as will the organizers of online education and training courses.

The organization said that its vouchers can also be used on the Ximalaya platform, a popular vendor of audiobooks and a repository for podcasts and internet radio stations.

A number of major cinemas in the district will accept the tokens.

A cultural tourism chief stated that the move was in part a response to the fact that people in the city had turned to internet-based entertainment and learning during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – and added that the district was hopeful that the move would spark a new wave of ebook purchases and online learning.
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