Jiangsu tourism rides television high

Northward, a popular TV series, has boosted tourism to Kunshan, Jiangsu province — one of the main filming locations — with the number of visitors during Qingming Festival in early April surging by 608 percent year-on-year, according to a recent seminar in Beijing.

The series, adapted from Xu Zechen's Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel of the same title, was watched by 670 million viewers on China Central Television's CCTV-1, and amassed 1.86 billion views on streaming platform iQiyi, according to the producers.

Set between 2000 and 2014, it follows six neighboring families living along a section of the Grand Canal, chronicling their ups and downs as their children grow into adulthood and seek better futures in Beijing.

With a focus on relatable themes such as the gaokao (the national college entrance exam), the series has struck a chord with the audience. The hashtag "Northward seems to be scrutinizing my teenage years" has gone viral online, getting 2.62 million views on Sina Weibo.

Additionally, the series' popularity has boosted interest in travel to Huai'an, Suzhou and Yangzhou — other major filming locations in Jiangsu — to explore the cultural and artistic experiences featured in the show.

For instance, performances of pingtan, a local form of storytelling, saw a 50 percent increase in shows; enrollment in Kunqu Opera experience workshops grew by 120 percent; and on-site sales of traditional crafts, such as Wuxi clay figurines, jumped by 90 percent, according to Ye Biaorong, chairman of the Jiangsu Cultural Investment & Management Group Co Ltd.

One of the actors in the series, Ou Hao, who also attended the seminar, said that growing up near a seaside town in Fujian province helped him relate to his character — a man whose family lives by a river and relies on cargo business for their livelihoods.

Fellow actress Bai Lu expressed hope that the drama would inspire more young viewers to understand the social transformations experienced by those living near the Grand Canal, and encourage them to bravely pursue their own dreams.