On April 1st, 2025, the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Handan city in Hebei province released a promotional video titled “Apology Conference.” Within just one hour, it soared to the top of Douyin’s (China's TikTok) national trending chart. The comment section was flooded with praise as the video quickly went viral, with netizens from both China and abroad playfully calling out, 'Handan Tourism, great job! Come out and accept the compliments!'

In the video, the director of the Handan Culture and Tourism Bureau personally appears on camera to host a unique press conference on the historic Handan Road. Using a clever form of Versailles-style "apology" (a humorous way of humble-bragging), the video artfully employs irony to highlight Handan’s culinary delights, stunning scenery, and rich cultural heritage. Packed with witty references and punchlines, the video breathes new life into ancient sites and cultural relics from the city’s 3,000-year history.

The ancient idiom “Hu Fu Riding and Archery" is reimagined as a fashion trend, “The Walking Imitation of Handan” becomes modern citywalk, and “Mao Sui Self-Recommendation” is portrayed as “job-hunting by directly talking to the boss.” With these references, Handan Tourism uses its 3,000-year cultural legacy to craft memes and jokes that resonate with Gen Z, speaking their language in a fun and relatable way.

The video ends on a sincere note, inviting global tourists with the heartfelt message: “We’ve waited 3,000 years to meet you.” When the cultural relics of Handan join together to say, “Let’s meet,” many viewers commented, “I really want to visit Handan after watching this.”

Reportedly, after being shared on China Daily’s Facebook page, the video surpassed 400,000 views within 24 hours. On China Daily’s WeChat video channel, it received over 100,000 interactions and more than 2 million views. On Douyin, the trending topic #HandanTourismComeOutAndAcceptCompliments# had over 40 million online views. As of this article’s release, Douyin interactions exceeded 900,000.

This campaign not only showcased Handan’s beautiful scenery and delicious food, but also revealed the city’s authentic and endearing “human touch.” It demonstrated the sincerity of Handan’s people, achieving both widespread popularity and a stellar reputation across the internet.

This time, Handan showed the world its cultural pride and rich heritage.

Handan — worth a journey to encounter the 3,000-year romance it offers the world!