Recently, the launch ceremony and main activities of Jiangsu’s 2025 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day promotional activity were held in Haimen District, Nantong, hosted by Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Nantong Municipal People’s Government.

The event announced 50 key activities for cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) across the province. Centered around exhibitions of cultural relics and ICH, academic exchanges, and cultural experience, a total of 1,262 promotional activities will be held both online and on-site, including 404 cultural-relic-related and 858 ICH-related activities. During the ceremony, awards were presented to the “Top 10” and “Outstanding” cases in the 2024 national review of cultural heritage administrative penalty cases, as well as certificates to representatives from Jiangsu’s second batch of provincial-level ICH workshops and organizations with outstanding cases involved in the 2024 “Boundless ICH Integrated with Scenic Spots” initiative.

Beyond policy promotion and achievements announcements, the main event also featured the “Charm of Jiangsu: Enjoy ICH at Your Doorstep” Nantong exhibition, showcasing 100 representative ICH projects from across Jiangsu in a large-scale market. This created an immersive experience where visitors could “see, taste, play with, and take home” cultural products, bringing high-quality ICH resources directly to communities.

Jiangsu houses a wealth of cultural and natural treasures. According to the third national survey of cultural relics, Jiangsu is home to 20,007 registered immovable cultural relics, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 251 national key protected sites (including the Grand Canal), 666 provincial-level protected sites, and 4,231 protected site at the municipal and county levels. Jiangsu houses 364 registered museums, among which 26 are national first-grade, 39 second-grade, and 33 third-grade, housing a total of 1.58 million pieces or sets of collections. Jiangsu leads the country with 12 UNESCO-listed ICH items, alongside 162 national-level, 1,166 provincial-level, 2,895 municipal-level, and 5,416 county-level ICH projects.