'China's Hollywood' sees strong revival in production, tourism

Sun Qiyang, head of the Dongyang Qiyang Film and Television Equipment Rental Co, which rents equipment for crews, said he is busy, too.

"The vast majority of our props and gear is currently in use at various shooting locations in Hengdian," he said.

Sun said he had a frenetic holiday last month, as his company served seven crews simultaneously. He said he has plans to set aside at least 10 million yuan ($1.47 million) to expand his business this year.

With many highly anticipated blockbusters filling screens during Spring Festival, China's movie theaters saw 129 million tickets sold from Jan 21 to 27, grossing over 6.76 billion yuan in revenue, representing year-on-year growth of 11.89 percent, according to the China Film Administration.

Box office revenue was the second-highest for the holiday and the number of cinema visits was also only slightly below the 2019 level, before the pandemic hit, Fitch Ratings said.

Among the top-earning movies were the sci-fi action hit The Wandering Earth II and the animated film Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, both of which received investment from the Hengdian Group.

The rising tide lifted the boat of tourism as well. Full River Red, a chart-topping film during the holiday, is reported to have brought over 50,000 tourists to the Yue Fei Temple in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

The historical mystery, directed by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, took its title from a lyrical poem composed by Yue Fei, a loyal general framed and executed during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and was inspired by his story.

Hengdian World Studios, a national 5A tourist attraction itself, was the most visited place in Zhejiang during the holiday. Some 800,000 people visited the theme town from Jan 22 to 27, a nearly sixfold increase over the same period in 2022.

Li Long, a 33-year-old extra from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, who is working in Hengdian, said he decided to work through the holiday. Although unable to return home, he said, "with the film industry having gone through the COVID-19 challenge, we should value the opportunities more".