Entertainment as education

This gaming relay appears to have become an efficient "router" for delivering traditional culture to the younger generation.

The talented players from diverse backgrounds and locations — Qiu lives in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Xia in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, and He in Meizhou, Guangdong province — inspire each other by reconstructing and experiencing cultural heritage in the digital space, collectively lifting the creative bar higher and higher.

Meanwhile, audiences find their own ways to connect with these block-based architectural worlds. The lively discussions in the comment sections range from architectural details to historical origins, with emotions further awakening a deep-seated sense of cultural identity.

Mainstream media have noted that this gaming relay has transcended mere entertainment to become a cultural dialogue, with the creators demonstrating that cultural heritage need not be confined to traditional forms.

The digital mediums mastered by the younger generation can breathe greater vitality into millenniums-old civilizations in this new era. Experts point to this phenomenon as a natural evolution of cultural expression for Generation Z.

"For this generation, who grew up with rich gaming experiences, the divide between real life and the gaming world isn't that large," said Cui Di, an associate professor at Fudan University's School of Journalism.

"Expressing their feelings for traditional culture through games is particularly natural and reasonable for them," he said.

Cui highlighted a key distinction between gaming and watching videos or anime. "A person's sense of agency is very strong in games, especially in open-world building games like Minecraft. Using game constructs to express emotion is a very powerful form of expression," he said.

The data supports this. According to Douyin, while the core audience for such content is under 30, the cultural depth of the relay successfully attracted non-gamers, significantly expanding its reach.

The platform's team, observing the trend, helped organize special themed chapters focusing on traditional culture, which garnered 7 million likes and 80 million plays collectively.

Comment sections have become forums for discussing architectural history, artistic styles, and shared national pride. While debates occasionally arise, the overarching sentiment is one of appreciation and discovery.

One comment read: "I never thought you could learn about traditional Chinese culture this way. It's incredibly awe-inspiring."

For the creators, the exhausting cycles of building, tweaking and rendering are fueled by this profound connection.

"That moment when a work is completed, it's as if all the nights spent awake, the revised plans, the repeatedly deliberated details all turn into sparks, lighting the way forward," Xia said.

He sees their work as a potent fusion of form and content. "It's more about the combination of both," he reflected when asked about the secret to breaking out of the gaming circle.

"It enhances cultural confidence in a way that young people can accept. You could call it 'educating through entertainment'," he said, adding they might tackle adaptations of China's four great classical novels.

Quan Jiaxin contributed to this story.