The world's first commercial multimodal large language model (LLM) for cultural tourism, named BoGuan, has entered broad application in Xi'an, China. Developed by Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Group (SCG) in collaboration with partners including Huawei, China Telecom Shaanxi, and China West Airport Group, the model generates commercial returns by supporting digital IP creation for intangible cultural heritage, cultural tourism applications, and short drama production. This development injects new momentum into China's heritage preservation efforts and the cultural tourism industry.
Xi'an, one of China's oldest cities and a top international tourist destination, serves as the launchpad for this innovation. BoGuan, unveiled in September 2025, is China's first industry-specific model dedicated to cultural heritage preservation. It is built on intelligent computing infrastructure and a high-quality dataset comprising over 1.2 PB of data, including 31 million images, 4.4 million minutes of video, 2.18 million minutes of audio, 510 3D models, and 960 million pieces of structured text. This enables BoGuan to generate highly accurate multimodal content, such as museum-quality presentations of cultural relics.
The model has already demonstrated tangible impacts. For example, dough sculpture artisan Zhang Beiyuan noted, "With this model, I can complete a dough sculpture that used to take two or three months in less than a week." BoGuan also facilitated the creation of the popular cartoon character Tang Biaobiao, inspired by local heritage and the stone carvings of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum. Sales of related digital collectibles and creative products have exceeded CNY2 million. Additionally, the model powers an AI travel companion agent available on the GO-SHAANXI app, which has served over 4 million users since March 2026, offering personalized itineraries and real-time attraction recommendations. The Zhiying Camera mini program provides paid services that integrate user photos with AI-generated historical scenes, allowing visitors to "travel back to ancient times."
Beyond heritage and tourism apps, SCG uses BoGuan to integrate short drama production with cultural tourism, enhancing efficiency and quality in Xi'an, a renowned short drama hub. Meanwhile, China Telecom Shaanxi and Huawei have deployed a 5G-A network based on 3CC technology at Xi'an's Grand Tang Mall, delivering peak uplink and downlink rates of 600 Mbps and 3.5 Gbps—about 10 times faster than standard 5G. During the 2026 May Day holiday, the network supported concurrent access for 23,000 users, ensuring smooth streaming and social media experiences. 5G-A-powered HD live streaming at the mall has also become a key visitor attraction, with average user dwell time nearly doubling and average transaction value increasing by 62%.
Edric Chu, General Manager of Huawei's Shaanxi Rep Office, stated, "Artificial intelligence is not simply a stack of technologies. It has become a key enabler that can activate thousands of years of cultural heritage, reshape travel experiences, and inject new momentum into the industry." Huawei continues to collaborate with partners to enhance cultural heritage preservation and stimulate development within the cultural tourism industry through digital and intelligent technologies.
