China Media Group reinvents urban tourism through reality television

The 2026 season departs from traditional travelogues by embedding competitive variety elements directly into the urban fabric. After an opening chapter in Yiwu that highlighted the city’s global commercial footprint, the production moved to Yibin. Here, the show weaves the region’s traditional reliance on tea, liquor, and bamboo production with its modern pivot toward power battery manufacturing and ecological restoration.

By treating the city as a living arena, the program translates complex industrial shifts and deep-rooted heritage into accessible narratives. This format marks a departure from static city promotion, opting instead for a two-way engagement where the location itself serves as both the stage and the central character. The result is an attempt to bridge the gap between historical identity and contemporary economic ambition, inviting audiences to view urban centers through a lens of both legacy and innovation.