Much has been made of the Chinese film industry's struggles to recapture the heady days of its pre-pandemic box office records, but it appears a government-led push for film tourism has started to help the wider domestic economy recoup some of what has been lost at the multiplex.

This year has seen reports of a tourism boom in the likes of northwestern Qinghai province thanks to the Lunar New Year box office hit Pegasus 3, with hotel bookings in the shooting-location city of Delingha up 71 percent year-over-year during the February holiday, according to data from travel platform Qunar. Meanwhile, the country's current box office sensation, Dear You, has driven a similar rush, with flights to the three cities in which the family drama is set - Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang - reportedly doubling since the film's late-April release.

Local and national tourism authorities - and the Chinese film industry in general - have thrown their weight behind what has become known as  film-plus,  a push that has led to campaigns such as the China Film Administration-backed  Taste Cuisine with Films  and  Shopping with Films. 

The Shanghai International Film Festival is also leaning into the phenomenon this week with  Grand Landscape: A Cinematic Portrait of China,  a program comprising an eclectic selection of 15 Chinese classics dating back to 1960 and featuring some of the country's most famous scenic sites.

 Film tourism is quite a trend in this recent five years,  explains Freda Fan, senior manager of programming and screening at the Shanghai International Film   TV Events Center, the festival's organizing body.  Last year, we had Ne Zha 2, which made Yibin in Sichuan a hit with visitors. Also, in the case of the Creation of the Gods series, the heritage in Henan was getting popular. Here in Shanghai, it was because of the films B for Busy and Her Story that the daily city life in Shanghai revealed its charm. The longtang [alleyways], cafés and grocery stores that appear in the films have become popular destinations for young people to go on City Walk tours. 

SIFF has been encouraging visitors a

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