On the evening of July 24, the Longdeng Ranch Starry Sky Concert, a featured event of the 2026 Sichuan Ganzi Mountain Culture and Tourism Festival, was held on the Longdeng Grassland in Daofu County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. At an altitude of over 3,000 meters, visitors from across the country gathered under a vast starry sky to enjoy an audio-visual feast that blended ethnic traditions with modern trends.

Adhering to the philosophy of "shaping tourism through culture and highlighting culture through tourism", this year's Mountain Culture and Tourism Festival integrated a series of events—including the opening ceremony, horse racing, pastoral life experiences, concerts, and trail running—across grasslands, ranches, and stone forests, promoting the deep integration of culture, tourism, sports, and commerce. As a key sub-event, the Longdeng Ranch Starry Sky Concert was rooted in local cultural heritage, fostering a fusion of traditional ethnic vocal styles with modern musical elements, and exploring the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.

The grassland was equally vibrant during the day. In the "Herder Life Experience Zone" at Longdeng Grassland, tourists donned traditional ethnic costumes and learned horseback riding, tsampa rolling, and butter tea churning alongside local herders. Ms. Wang, a visitor from Jiangsu Province, holding a ball of tsampa she had made herself, said, "I had only seen tsampa in videos before. Making it with my own hands today revealed how much skill is involved; there are specific techniques regarding the temperature and pressure of one's palms."

According to the organizers, the "A Day as a Herder" program transformed tourists from "bystanders" into "participants", allowing them to appreciate the profound heritage of nomadic culture through hands-on practice. Multiple tents were set up in the experience area for daytime rest and traditional outdoor leisure activities known as "Shuabazi," building anticipation for the evening concert. "Sitting in a tent to rest, with the boundless grassland stretching out before you, creates a truly magical sense of harmony between humanity and nature," said Ms. Hu, a tourist from Zhejiang Province.

At the concert, local young musicians from Daofu, Luorong Renqing and Zeren Lamu, took the stage first, performing the song "Happy Anba", which expressed the sincere love of Daofu's people for their hometown. Subsequently, musicians including DOSFLORA, Zaidi, and Tujiu performed in turn, presenting a succession of lyrical melodies and energetic rock performances that fully showcased the diverse charm of plateau music. Dong'an Nima, a Daofu native long based in Guangdong Province, returned specifically for the event to present original works imbued with nostalgia, leading the audience on an immersive journey through the local customs and scenery of Daofu.

The Wings band, a Tibetan group deeply loved by the local community, ignited the atmosphere with several original tracks. New-generation musician Bi Aibaiwai seamlessly integrated plateau folk melodies with modern rap, creating a distinctive highland rap style. In an interview, he noted, "Many people assume that ethnic music inherently carries a traditional label, but our younger generation hopes to express it in new ways. Tradition is the foundation, but forms of expression can evolve with the times." This creative exploration serves as a vivid example of the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional ethnic culture among the youth.

After the concert concluded, tourists gathered around bonfires to dance the Guozhuang, creating a lively scene. "During the day, we rode horses, rolled tsampa, and churned butter tea, then relaxed in tents. At night, we listened to the concert under the stars. In a single day, we experienced both the rustic charm of nomadic life and the romance of modern music," said Ms. Chen, a visitor from Guangdong Province. Mr. Zhang, a tourist from Chengdu who traveled there with his family of four, said, "We spent the day roaming the grassland on horseback. The children were enthusiastic about making tsampa and churning butter tea, and in the evening, the whole family enjoyed the concert together. Everyone found their own joy—this is exactly the kind of plateau trip people aspire to."

The concert delivered not only cultural enjoyment but also tangible economic benefits. According to statistics from the Daofu County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism, nighttime spending on dining and barbecues at Longdeng Ranch on the evening of the concert increased by more than 30% compared to regular days. The all-day event layout of "daytime experiences + tent leisure + nighttime performances" effectively extended visitors' length of stay, creating a complete industrial chain linking daytime recreation to nighttime consumption. On-site surveys indicated that nearly 70% of tourists expressed willingness to revisit for such immersive cultural experiences. Shifting from "transit tourism" to "overnight stays," and transforming "scenery viewers" into "participants in the landscape," Daofu is exploring new pathways to reconstruct the value chain of the cultural tourism industry in highland pastoral areas through a diversified business model combining "culture, experience, and ecology".

Since its inaugural edition was held in Hailuogou in 2016, the Ganzi Mountain Culture and Tourism Festival has successively taken place in Daocheng Yading, Kangding, Litang, Ganzi County, and Xiangcheng, becoming a vital platform for showcasing the "Sacred Ganzi" cultural tourism brand. Stretching from south to north along the G318 and G317 scenic highways, the festival acts as a strand of pearls linking premium resources across the prefecture, propelling Ganzi's cultural tourism festivities from "single-point highlights" toward "region-wide synergy".

Relevant officials from Daofu County stated that Longdeng Ranch will continue to tap into highland ecological resources and local cultural heritage, refine the all-day cultural tourism product offering of "daytime experiences + tent leisure + nighttime performances", and attract more visitors to Daofu to encounter the beauty of Sacred Ganzi.