A journey comes full circle
An 11th-century literary giant faced punishment, but his writings are driving a heritage and economic revival in Hainan today, Chen Bowen reports in Haikou.
Today, Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo, is steering a cultural and economic revival on that same tropical island, proving the enduring power of a singular, unbreakable spirit.
The third China (Hainan) Dongpo Culture and Tourism Festival, a yearlong extravaganza running from March 2025, is not merely a historical retrospective. It is a vibrant, sprawling experiment in making an 11th-century literary giant a catalyst for contemporary tourism, academic discourse, artistic innovation, and even coping with modern anxiety.
The festival's theme, Continuing the Dongpo Legacy, Promoting Dongpo Culture, is being realized through an array of over a dozen core events across multiple cities and counties, from academic symposiums to AI-powered musicals and pop concerts.
"Dongpo brought blessings to Hainan, and Hainan, in turn, shaped him," scholars agreed unanimously at the festival's International Forum on Dongpo Culture held on Nov 8 in Chengmai county, flipping the old narrative of "Hainan's fortune was born from Dongpo's misfortune".
