The Yangzhou Qiao Bei Musical Suite
The rhythm of an old massage, remixed into music — Yangzhou turns Qiaobei into a living cultural icon
The translation and summary on this page were generated with AI. Some expressions or proper nouns may be translated inaccurately, so please check the English original for the precise content.
AI Translation Summary
Qiaobei, a traditional back-tapping massage from Yangzhou, was fading as "outdated." Its rhythmic tapping, however, makes almost musical patterns. The Yangzhou Tourism Bureau reimagined Qiaobei as music, recording rhythms at century-old bathhouses with Qiaobei masters and remixing them into four original pieces — tied to the nationwide "SuChao" city football league. A fading craft became a shareable cultural moment, lifting both pride and the city's appeal.
Cultural Context
Qiaobei (敲背, "back-tapping") is a signature bathhouse massage of Yangzhou, where masters strike the back in distinct rhythmic patterns that sound almost like percussion. "SuChao" (苏超) is a Jiangsu city football league that grew into a nationwide entertainment phenomenon and a stage for cities to show off local culture. This suite is instrumental — the music itself is the message, so there are no lyrics.
Entry Information
Summary
Chinese audiences are rediscovering traditional culture, and tourism bureaus nationwide are racing to reintroduce local heritage. Amid this, Yangzhou — a historic city — sought to reignite civic pride and present its culture to a wider world. For many, Qiaobei, a traditional Yangzhou massage, feels outdated and risks fading. The challenge was to reintroduce it for contemporary impact and draw more visits for the Yangzhou Tourism Bureau. Qiaobei is performed through rhythmic back-tapping, whose distinct patterns create unique, almost musical sound experiences. Our work reimagined Qiaobei as music — composing four original pieces and turning it into a living cultural icon of Yangzhou.
Strategy
Through on-site research at historic bathhouses and interviews with Qiaobei practitioners, we found that Qiaobei is not merely a service but a performative art form rooted in sound and cultural meaning. Our insight: Qiaobei's strength lies in what today's audiences already love — music. To solve disengagement, we reintroduced Qiaobei through audio entertainment, turning rhythmic tapping into music. We identified a national cultural moment — the "SuChao" City League, in which Yangzhou competed. More than a sporting event, SuChao became a nationwide entertainment phenomenon and a stage where Jiangsu cities showcase local culture, making it a natural platform to reintroduce Qiaobei within a highly engaged conversation.
Execution
Four Qiaobei patterns were chosen, each with a long-established name that guided the composition. In Phase 1, four distinct rhythms were recorded at four century-old Yangzhou bathhouses with Qiaobei masters. Remixing the raw back-tapping into contemporary arrangements, four original pieces translated cultural meaning into engaging audio, launched on major social platforms with NFC-enabled bath towels for direct access. In Phase 2, we scaled up "The Galloping of Ten Thousand Horses." With piano and Erhu, we amplified its battle-drum energy; during the SuChao final, the rhythm was recorded in the stadium, merging battle-drum energy with music into a symphony of cheers.
Results
The campaign drew a strong nationwide response and clear shifts in awareness, engagement, and perception of Qiaobei and the city. During the social launch period: · Engagement around "Qiaobei" rose 65.5%, exceeding 1 million; · Users posting about "Qiaobei" rose 67%; · Mentions rose 45%, surpassing 129,414; · Positive sentiment rose 9.5%. These indicate a marked improvement in attitudes toward the tradition, and strengthened Yangzhou's appeal — with comments like "An outstanding tourism campaign — now I want to visit Yangzhou!" By turning Qiaobei into a shared cultural moment, the Bureau differentiated the city nationally, and the content lives on as a long-term brand asset.