World's First Commercial Multimodal LLM for Cultural Tourism Enters Broad Application in Xi'an

The world's first commercial multimodal large language model (LLM) for cultural tourism, BoGuan, has entered broad application in Xi'an, China, generating commercial returns through digital IP creation for intangible cultural heritage, development of cultural tourism applications, and improvement of short drama production. This initiative is injecting new momentum into China's heritage preservation and the cultural tourism industry.

Xi'an, one of China's oldest cities and a top international tourist destination, is at the forefront of this digital transformation. Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Group (SCG), in collaboration with partners like Huawei, China Telecom Shaanxi, and China West Airport Group, is leveraging AI and 5G-A technologies. For instance, BoGuan powers an AI travel companion agent that had served over 4 million users by March 2026.

Unveiled in September 2025, BoGuan is built on intelligent computing infrastructure and a high-quality dataset exceeding 1.2 petabytes, 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. The model generates highly accurate multimodal content, such as museum-quality digital relic presentations, supporting the digitalization of traditional craftsmanship and creation of digital IP for intangible cultural heritage. Zhang Beiyuan, a dough sculpture artisan, 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 created the popular cartoon character Tang Biaobiao, integrating local heritage with the stone carvings of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum; related digital collectibles and creative products have generated over CNY2 million in sales.

Beyond heritage preservation, BoGuan has enabled cultural tourism apps like AI photography and the AI travel companion on the GO-SHAANXI app, allowing visitors to create itineraries and receive real-time recommendations. The Zhiying Camera mini program offers paid services that merge user photos with AI-generated historical scenes, letting visitors "travel back to ancient times." These options unlock business value from quality cultural tourism data. Additionally, SCG uses BoGuan to integrate short drama production with cultural tourism, enhancing efficiency and quality in Xi'an, a renowned short drama hub.

China Telecom Shaanxi and Huawei have deployed a 5G-A network based on three component carrier aggregation 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 common 5G networks. During the 2026 May Day holiday, the network supported 23,000 concurrent users, ensuring smooth video and social media experiences. 5G-A-powered HD live streaming at the mall has become a key visitor attraction; average user dwell time nearly doubled and average transaction value increased 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. Moving forward, Huawei will continue working with our partners to enhance cultural heritage preservation with digital and intelligent technologies, and stimulate development within the cultural tourism industry."