CHANGCHUN, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- For Li Meng, a college student from Qingdao in east China, a hand-drawn postcard and a "bronze gate" badge aren't just souvenirs -- they're links to a decade-long promise.
On Aug. 17, she and about 15,000 fellow fans of the nine-novel series "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" gathered at Changbai Mountain in northeastern province of Jilin, to mark a fictional moment from the book.
The adventure-fantasy novel series, known as Daomu Biji in Chinese, tells of the grave-robbing exploits of Wu Xie, a young man from a family of tomb raiders.
It is the cliffhanger of book nine, which in the fictional world ends on Aug. 17, 2005, that prompted die-hard fans to undertake their literary pilgrimage. The final book ends with Wu's friend, Kylin Zhang, disappearing through a bronze gate in Changbai Mountain to protect his family's secret. Zhang tells Wu to come and take his place on the same day, 10 years later.
Since the first "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" book was published in 2007, it has amassed millions of fans in China. Each title has averaged sales of more than 1 million copies, pushing the combined total past 12 million. Adapted into multiple TV dramas and films, the series has also been translated into English, building a large fanbase at home and abroad.
"The high-speed train brought me here, but the real magic is how this mountain feels like part of the story," Li said, flipping through a notebook stamped with icons from the novel. She had booked her homestay three months early -- a common move, as hotels and guesthouses around Changbai Mountain sold out two months ahead.
Local volunteers handed her a map for recommended check-in spots, and a free shuttle bus whisked her to Yunding Market, with stalls brimming with Grave Robbers' Chronicles merchandise: canvas bags, bookmarks, even life-sized cutouts of characters.
By dusk, the town hummed with the tune of A Decade Among Mortals, a song tied to the novel, and fireworks lit up the sky at 8:17 p.m. -- a nod to the book's iconic date.
It's a far cry from 2015, when the first "ten-year promise" gathering drew just a few hundred fans, who hiked almost unguided to find spots that matched the novel.
Today, local authorities have turned passion into a well-oiled experience -- 450 temporary beds at a nearby college to accommodate visitors, an additional 200 free shuttle buses, and hundreds of police officers patrolling concerts and markets to ensure safety -- all to keep Daomi, the exclusive title of the book fans, feeling welcome.
"This isn't just about fans, it's about letting a story bring life to a place," said Hou Yanyu, who plans Changbai Mountain's annual Daomi Festival. Over the past decade, the area has built a night economy zone with cafes, homestays and photo spots, turning a seasonal fandom event into a year-round draw, very much like London and Edinburgh to Harry Potter fans.
"We don't just slap an IP on it -- we weave it into how people eat, stay and play here," said Hou.
That formula is working across China. In August 2024, the Chinese-developed game "Black Myth: Wukong" sold more than 20 million copies within its first month of release. All 36 real-world locations featured in the game quickly became must-visit spots. On its launch day, online searches for attractions in the province of Shanxi, where many of the spots are located, surged 156 percent.
Earlier this year, the animated film "Ne Zha 2", a box office record-breaker, sparked similar trends -- Nanchang's Tengwang Pavilion hosted a Ne Zha treasure-hunt game that drew 20,000 people within a week, while specially-designed Ne Zha tour route linking Tianjin's popular destinations including an ancient culture street and the Ferris wheel "Tianjin Eye" boosted visits by nearly 30 percent year on year.
The numbers back up the buzz. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported over 3.28 billion domestic trips in the first half of 2025, up 20.6 percent year on year, with spending hitting 3.15 trillion yuan (442.5 billion U.S. dollars), a 15.2-percent growth. But for experts like Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy, the real success isn't just in crowds, it's in longevity.
"The best destinations blend these stories with their own culture, showing both their history and their future. It's how you turn a one-time visit into a lasting connection."
For Li Meng, that connection is already real. As she swapped postcards with a fan from east China's Zhejiang Province, she laughed: "This mountain used to be just a place on a map. Now, it's where our story lives." Enditem
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