Culture taking center stage in Tianjin

During the recent National Holiday week, the concert hall of Tianjin Grand Theater was packed every evening for the Russian opera War and Peace, based on Leo Tolstoy's novel. Some of the audience even drove the 120 kilometers from Beijing.

Qian Cheng, chief manager of the theater, explained to China Daily how Tianjin, once primarily known as a port and industrial city, could build such a cultural reputation so quickly; especially since China's massive city building program has resulted in many brand new, exquisitely designed cultural facilities in other cities remaining largely empty.

Qian attributed Tianjin's difference to the city's innovative approach in working with the private sector.

For a Chinese city government, to trust a large, expensive public facility (Tianjin Grand Theater reportedly cost more than 1 billion yuan, or $160 million) to the management of a private company is a pioneering effort.

It was to a great extent driven by his passion for being high art that Qian brought his small company Propel Media back to his hometown Tianjin from Beijing.

In April 2012, Qian won the bidding for the Grand Theater's management by promising a successful theater with "zero government financing, pure private management, and market-oriented operations".

He has been good to his word. In 2013, the theater staged 310 shows, only the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing staged more.

All the shows featured nationally and internationally renowned artists, such as the symphony orchestras of Chicago and Philadelphia. Many world's first-class symphony orchestras have held concerts there.

With people willing to travel from Beijing to Tianjin to attend the shows staged by the theater - they swarmed the lobby during the holiday week to see War and Peace - local citizens have developed a sense of pride in owning such a cultural attraction.

Up to now, Tianjin Grand Theater still cannot claim to be self-sufficient, even less a profitable business. Qian still has to allocate funds from his other businesses to cover the operating deficit. But he said the aim is to enrich people's lives and the city's overall cultural development.

"Low quality stuff, even when it is free, will only lead to the death of the cultural market," Qian said.

Prior to the National Day holiday week in October 2013, he succeeded in persuading the municipal government to set up a 15 million yuan subsidy program for arts events, with the subsidy going directly to the audience. Tianjin residents responded favorably to the program.

He said he has enlisted his friend, symphony conductor Tang Muhai, to join him in a mission to build an opera house in Tianjin and turn his hometown into "a city of operas".

Amid China's rapid urban expansion, Tianjin is showing how a city government can create added value by working with the private sector to promote a dynamic cultural market.

The author is a writer of China Daily. wangyiqing@chinadaily.com.cn