A variety of “Zengyue Qingdao” mystery boxes.

Volunteers are handing out mystery boxes.

Tourists from other places take a photo of well-received mystery boxes with Qingdao scenic spots.

Foreign tourists receive mystery boxes in front of St.Michael's Cathedral, Qingdao.

Two pairs of lovers take a group photo with mystery boxes. 

A mother and her daughter who are presented with mystery boxes in Liangyou Bookstore.  By Wang Lei

From Qingdao Railway Station to BIFT Qingdao Fashion Institute, from Liangyou Bookstore, Qingdao Post and Telecommunications Museum to Gingkgo Gallery, from Qingdao 1907 Movie Museum to the square of St.Michael's Cathedral, Qingdao, from the internet-famous wall on Daxue Road to The Museum of the Former German Governor’s House in Qingdao, from the Mixc to the May Fourth Square, Qingdao Grand Theatre. The 2021 New Year urban program named “Zengyue Qingdao” kicked off on January 1, 2021. 10,000 ingenious mystery boxes of urban culture with the city’s novelty and goodwill were presented as a gift to randomly selected citizens and tourists randomly from the west to the east and from the old town to the new urban area.  

At 8 a.m., the first batch of passengers who have arrived at Qingdao Railway Station were immersed in the warmth and pleasant surprise of urban culture-featured mystery boxes. Before 10 a.m., a group of Qingdao volunteers including writers, artists, students and citizens went to Zhanqiao Pier. “My beloved city of Qingdao is unbelievably confessing love to me.” A young tourist from Shanghai videotaped this “both pleasantly surprising and fantastic” moment. What he said echoed the program’s theme “In the season of renewal, Let’s be faithful friends”, which is derived from Nine Chapters written by Qu Yuan, sends a message of confidence that everything will certainly recover and prosper and conveys Qingdao’s attitude of being open-minded, friendly and communicative. 

Among mystery boxes that were handed out, probably one of them is an original book written by writers in Qingdao or a reflection of Qingdao characteristics depicted by Qingdao-born artists. Jiang Yongjie, a Qingdao-born artist, specially created “My Qingdao”, a piece of wood engraving work for the activity, which was scaled down on an exquisite postcard as a “leaf” when readers travel around the city on books. Liu Dahong, another Qingdao-born artist, jointly created the crystal paperweight “Toast, Qingdao”, on which a unicorn passes by the city square, ushering in a grand party between Qingdao and the world. Vouchers tickets or cultural creative products provided by cultural museums and sponsoring enterprises made the city’s mystery boxes more colorful and mysterious. 

Reportedly, the “Zengyue Qingdao” activity in the process of preparation attracted wide attention of Qingdao circle of literature and art. Hundreds of Qingdao-born writers, artists, exhibition planners and performing celebrities, who settle in Qingdao or reside abroad, recorded videos one after another as spokespersons of the city, inviting people to Qingdao. Their videos were played in rotation on the big screen in Zhanqiao Pier site of “Zengyue”. 

Tourists from other places, who received the gift in many sites, stood in front of the camera one after another, responding to the NewYear confession from the city of youth and sending their benediction. The “Zengyue Qingdao” program on the first day of 2021 covered nearly 30 cultural tourism sites or life quarters. The urban program will become an annual campaign of Qingdao.