World's First Commercial Multimodal LLM for Cultural Tourism Enters Broad Application in Xi'an
The BoGuan large language model, the first commercial multimodal LLM for cultural tourism, is now widely used in Xi'an, China, driving digital IP creation for intangible cultural heritage and boosting the cultural tourism industry.
The world's first commercial multimodal large language model (LLM) for cultural tourism, called BoGuan, has entered broad application in Xi'an, China, according to an announcement from Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Group (SCG) and its partners. The model generates commercial returns by supporting the creation of digital IP for intangible cultural heritage, developing cultural tourism applications, and improving short drama production, injecting new momentum into China's heritage preservation and the cultural tourism industry.
Xi'an, one of China's oldest cities and a popular international tourist destination, is at the forefront of this digital transformation. SCG is collaborating with Huawei, China Telecom Shaanxi, and China West Airport Group (CWAG) to leverage digital technologies including AI and 5G-A. For instance, BoGuan powers a new AI travel companion agent that had already been available to over 4 million users by March 2026.
Unveiled in September 2025 by SCG and Huawei, BoGuan is the world's first commercial multimodal LLM for cultural tourism and 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, digitalization of traditional craftsmanship, and creation of digital IP for intangible cultural heritage.
The impact on artisans is significant. 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 has also been used to create digital IP like the popular cartoon character Tang Biaobiao, which integrates local cultural heritage with the stone carvings of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum. Sales of related digital collectibles and creative products have exceeded CNY 2 million.
Beyond heritage preservation, BoGuan supports a range of cultural tourism apps, including AI photography and the AI travel companion agent. Visitors can interact with the agent on the GO-SHAANXI app to create and adjust itineraries and get real-time performance recommendations at attractions. The Zhiying Camera mini program offers paid services that instantly merge user photos with AI-generated historical scenes, allowing visitors to “travel back to ancient times.” These new consumption options unlock the business value of cultural tourism data. Additionally, SCG uses BoGuan to integrate short drama production with cultural tourism, improving efficiency and quality in Xi'an, a renowned short drama hub.
Complementing the AI initiatives, China Telecom Shaanxi and Huawei have deployed a 5G-A network based on three component carrier aggregation (3CC) technology at Xi'an's Grand Tang Mall, a popular tourist attraction. The network delivers peak uplink and downlink rates of 600 Mbps and 3.5 Gbps, respectively, about 10 times faster than common 5G networks. During the 2026 May Day holiday, it supported concurrent access for 23,000 users, ensuring smooth video streaming and social media experiences. 5G-A-powered HD live streaming at the mall has become a key tool for attracting visitors, 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. 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.”