BEIJING, Sept. 17, 2025 -- When the same scenes of popular TV series "This Thriving Land" are painted on canvases, eastern China's coastal city Rizhao is promising a fascinating blend of art and cultural tourism.

Since September 3, 100-plus exquisite oil paintings created by Chinese oil painting masters have been on display in Rizhao Art Museum, exhibiting the same views as those in "This Thriving Land" that have captured hearts of many.

Indigenous old houses, fishing boats, the vast field at the hinterland of Yimeng mountainous region and the broad beaches of Rizhao have all been represented on canvases during the local leg of Chinese oil painting masters' thematic paintings exhibition.

Walking into the exhibition hall of Rizhao Art Museum, visitors can spot the colorful and lifelike works of nearly 100 reputed Chinese oil painters, who not only paid tribute to the unfading "Yimeng Spirit" with their brushes, but initiated "talks" between art and land, history and present.

For instance, paintings depicting the unfading "Red Sister" spirit, the endless blue at seaside of Rizhao, sailboats at village wharves, and modern port in the new era are all there in the museum, created by Chinese oil painting artists of different ages.

While touring the city, Wang Tieniu, professor with Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University said that the city brims with modernity and potential and the crowds of tourists at seaside scenic areas impressed him much.

For years, the Chinese oil painting masters' thematic paintings exhibition has become an influential event to create artistic works grounded in people and life under organization of Art Development Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Shandong Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

When these artists wandered through the city, many local citizens and tourists stumbled upon their paintings, captivated deeply by the city-wide "moving art gallery" where photographers, TV series makers and writers have gathered to translate local cultural hallmarks into scenarios that can be felt and experienced.

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