The two-day music festival in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, on July 18 and 19.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Against the backdrop of the Yala Snow Mountain and the sweeping Tagong Grassland in the Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, thousands of music fans gathered at nearly 3,800 meters above sea level for the second 318 Life Festival, a high-altitude celebration that redefines the relationship between live music, travel and place, from July 18 to 19.
This year’s event drew around 40,000 attendees. Performances by acclaimed Chinese indie acts, including Soundtoy and Mr. Sea Turtle, unfolded across an alpine landscape better known as a gateway to the famed Sichuan-Xizang Highway than as a concert destination.
Named after National Highway 318, one of China’s most celebrated road-trip routes, the festival has positioned itself as a cultural extension of the highway’s mythology. Stretching from Shanghai to the Xizang autonomous region, the route traverses plains, forests, glaciers, mountain ranges, and plateaus, earning a reputation among travelers as a once-in-a-lifetime drive.
Rather than treating music simply as entertainment, organizers framed the festival around five themes — music, local culture, outdoor experiences, dialogue, and art — creating a program that encourages audiences to engage with the landscape as much as the performances.
The two-day music festival in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, on July 18 and 19.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
This year’s edition also highlighted the growing role of digital platforms in shaping cultural tourism. Chinese music streaming service NetEase Cloud Music, the festival’s co-organizer, introduced a new travel-themed listening interface called “World Roaming”, allowing users to pair playlists with animated landscapes inspired by destinations around the world. The company also curated the festival’s official playlist, extending the event beyond the concert grounds to listeners nationwide.
Perhaps the most distinctive installation came in the form of oversized cards displaying user-generated music comments, a feature for which NetEase Cloud Music has become well known. Installed across the festival site, the selected reflections echoed the emotional rhythms of road travel and mountain life.
By bringing these online conversations into a physical setting, the festival blurred the boundary between digital community and live cultural experience.
The event also reflects a broader trend in China, where music festivals have increasingly become vehicles for regional cultural branding and tourism.
The two-day music festival in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, on July 18 and 19.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Located on the Sichuan-Xizang Highway, Kangding has long served as a key stop for self-driving travelers. Organizers hope events like the 318 Life Festival can transform passing traffic into longer stays by offering cultural experiences rooted in local identity.
For Garze, where tourism has become a significant driver of local development, the festival presents music as both artistic expression and economic catalyst. Visitors drawn by the performances are encouraged to explore the region’s grasslands, local folk culture and mountain scenery, extending the event’s impact beyond the concert weekend.
“We hope to remind people that, amid the pressures and demands of everyday life, when they feel weighed down by worries, they can still find the inspiration and motivation to look beyond the immediate — to pursue distant horizons, their dreams, and the beauty the world has to offer,” says Qi Du, NetEase Cloud Music’s brand marketing manager.
NetEase Cloud Music is one of China’s leading digital music platforms, combining music streaming with an active online community. It has more than 200 million monthly active users and hosts over one million registered independent musicians.
The two-day music festival in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, on July 18 and 19.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]