A One‑Year Review of the Ziyunshan (Baohe) Cultural & Creative Park's Launch

Do you remember the night of the 2026 Spring Festival Gala? The tech light displays at Luogang Park, the fireworks of Leijie Street, the breezy night at Baogong Park, and the literary ambiance of Hechai 1972—all the Baohe elements appeared in succession in the Hefei branch venue’s broadcast.

The nationally acclaimed "Hefei 8 minutes" was not only a high‑profile showcase of the city’s image but also a concentrated debut of Ziyunshan’s capabilities: Huaguang Imaging’s 8K UHD broadcast cameras successfully handled the live transmission; Ziyunshan Studio No.1 produced a visually stunning fusion of virtual and real; EHang’s drone formations lit up the Luogang night sky; and And Exhibition’s spherical "Tech Eye" LED display complemented the main stage’s "Eye of the Beautiful Anhui" centerpiece.

These shining moments together compose the impressive first‑year answer sheet for Ziyunshan’s launch.

The Cultural Peak Rises in Jianghuai

In March 2025, on the shores of Chaohu Lake, the Ziyunshan (Baohe) Cultural & Creative Industry Park was officially unveiled, establishing a cultural‑industry peak on the Jianghuai plain.

Ziyunshan’s emergence was no accident.

Anhui has a long cultural lineage and deep heritage. The province regards the "three cultural industries" as an inherent new quality productive forces and treats the cultural sector as a pillar engine for high‑quality development. Building a national‑level cultural and creative park has become a key component of Anhui’s strategy to strengthen its cultural industry.

Baohe, known as Anhui’s "primary urban district," is duty‑bound to shoulder this burden. With an early and deep‑rooted cultural industry, and a concentration of the province’s top sci‑edu‑cultural‑tourism resources, Baohe’s prominence is evident—nine of the Hefei branch venue’s highlights alone came from here.

In just one year, Ziyunshan has gathered over 8,000 cultural enterprises and achieved revenue exceeding RMB 65.5 billion. The park’s output increased by RMB 15.5 billion in a single year—more than 20% growth—delivering a surprising acceleration on the track of cultural new quality productive forces.

Riding this momentum, Baohe District leapt to 13th place among the nation’s top 100 districts for cultural industry competitiveness. Four national‑level honors—the National Demonstration Base for Culture‑Technology Integration, National Cultural Industry Demonstration Park, National Radio & Film Technology Innovation Experimental Base, and National VR Production & Application Demonstration—have all been increasingly recognized.

A New Landscape of Innovation and Integration

How was the blueprint implemented? Ziyunshan chose a path of meticulous cultivation.

Using "culture + technology" as its thread, Ziyunshan has woven connections among six major industries—great audio-visual industry, digital content, creative design services, virtual reality production, livestreaming, and digital music—and countless links between city and countryside.

Relying on a spatial layout of "one axis, two cores, three zones, four clusters," the park has skillfully revitalized urban memories. Luogang Park has become a futuristic "city showroom"; old workshops at Hechai 1972 have sprouted new businesses and turned into hotspots for creative youth; one can now boat and sip tea in Baogong Park. Streets, factories, and buildings are not only tangible "urban memory spaces" but also "industry development spaces" integrating headquarters economy, digital music, and e‑commerce livestreaming.

Looking southward into the countryside reveals yet another scene.

In Dawei Town, the Landian Xingyu Film Base—focused on high‑quality set construction—has become an important part of Ziyunshan’s film industry layout. Its 150 immersive sets cover diverse themes such as urban apartments, fantasy realms, and classical courtyards, and can accommodate up to ten film crews filming simultaneously.

As a key link in the microdrama industry chain, Landian Xingyu provides one‑stop costuming, props, and professional equipment; an integrated talent incubation loop; and seamless post‑production and distribution services. From the start of operations it has attracted many crews to Ziyunshan, and the emerging micro‑drama ecosystem is becoming an important bridge between industry and urban‑rural areas.

Additionally, boutique homestays and immersive performances at "Weimei Motan," farmer‑assistance livestreaming and eco‑study tours at Shenfu Cultural Park, online literature solicitations, micro‑drama script investment, and the "E‑sports Anhui" series—these "new cultural trio" are taking root in the fields of hope. The rural revitalization story here has been animated by culture.

Backed by more than 30 universities and research institutes including USTC and Hefei University of Technology, Ziyunshan leverages technological resources to accelerate the integration of AI, virtual reality, the metaverse, and blockchain into the cultural industry.

Earlier this year, And Exhibition’s Asia‑largest indoor transparent LED spherical display took the stage at the Hefei branch of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. This 28.5‑meter "Tech Eye," with 360° wraparound stereoscopic visuals, showcased the hard‑core capabilities of China’s science popularization venues to a global audience.

UDEXREAL’s smart gloves can perfectly replicate real‑world motions in virtual environments; Hefei Zhongke Junda’s "Thousand‑Eye Wolf" high‑speed camera is among the world’s fastest; Lawaken’s AI glasses integrate calling, music, photography, navigation, and translation into one device. To date, Ziyunshan Cultural & Creative Park has established 120 newly created enterprises through tech commercialization and investment attraction, yielding over 40 landmark culture‑tech integrated innovations.

Culture and technology, across cultural tourism, performing arts, museums, and sports applications, are not merely "additive" but truly "integrative."

Moving Toward the Innovation with Unceasing Steps

Among Anhui’s famed mountains and rivers, Yellow Mountain, Mount Jiuhua, and Mount Tianzhu have long been renowned. Today, an industrial peak named Ziyunshan (Mount Ziyun)—relying not on rugged peaks but on deep cultural roots and technological sharpness—is forging a new reputation on the cultural competition track.

Currently, Anhui’s cultural industry is entering a golden opportunity for development. Riding the tailwind of the Spring Festival Gala’s Hefei branch, cultural influence has expanded like never before. The province and city’s first spring meeting has sounded the rallying call of "technology innovation leading the development of new quality productive forces." At this one‑year milestone, how will Ziyunshan embark on its next journey?

The answer remains a single word: "integration."

At the APEC senior officials’ meeting earlier this year, a "robot calligrapher" that can write the character fu (福) captured public attention. This robot—developed by Ziyunshan‑based company Zerith—can do household chores and write calligraphy. In just one year, its order volume exceeded RMB 100 million and monthly production capacity surpassed 100 units, quickly placing the company among the industry’s leading articulated humanoid robot manufacturers.

Zerith’s conversion of cutting‑edge intelligent technologies into practical products rapidly deployed in commercial scenarios is a vivid footnote to Ziyunshan’s "culture + technology" integration development.

Looking ahead, Ziyunshan will further deepen integration between cultural and technological innovation. On one hand, it will expand industrial clusters so leading enterprises can not only "take root" here but grow into "towering trees." On the other, it will strengthen technological support by planning innovation streets around USTC and Hefei University of Technology to enable more laboratory achievements to be commercialized in situ. Most importantly, it will cultivate application scenarios—turning Chaohu Lake’s clear waters, Luogang Park, and Leijie Street’s fireworks into stages empowered by technology—bringing VR, AR, and low‑altitude economy experiences like immersive performances, exhibitions, and drone sightseeing into citizens’ daily lives.

With a new journey begun and steady strides taken, Ziyunshan’s story has only just opened its prologue. In response to the call of a hundred billion‑yuan blue ocean market, Ziyunshan will continue to stride forward and deepen its efforts to build a national‑leading cultural and creative industry highland, working hard to write an outstanding chapter of high‑quality development.