Past will be brought to life in Pingsha Sugar Refinery

Zhuhai Cultural & Creative Industry Park in Pingsha Town of Jinwan District has collected an array of rare western antiques for a proposed film-themed museum.

These priceless objects, currently on display at a temporary exhibition hall in the park office area, include a photographer's camera that was functional during World War II (1939-45), wooden photography tripod, and first imported film projector -- the same kind once run for Empress Dowager Tz’u-hsi (Cixi) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The artifacts, each with its own story, once gathered together, will create a great exhibition, said Bao Haiming, a project head for the developer, DCZT Cultural & Creative Industry Park Co Ltd.

It is one of the initial moves taken by the first domestic film and television base to provide a coordinated-process service, paving the way to become a comprehensive cultural and creative industry park featuring tourism, leisure, entertainment, fitness, and film shooting.

Antiques on display

Covering 157,000 sq m with 186,000 sq m of planned floor space, the base entails a total investment of 2.1 billion yuan ($314 million). More than 300 million yuan ($45 million) is allocated for the first phase.

It has a 3,000-sq-m sub-studio, which is a record breaker in the size of a single studio in Asia. Along with another three sub-stations -- 1,800 sq m, 2,000 sq m, and 3,000 sq m -- they cover a total area of more than 10,000 sq m.

The studio is in the former Pingsha Sugar Refinery. The company had done a series of reinforcements and renovations on the old factory at a cost of more than 100 million yuan ($15 million), much higher than what it would have cost to build a new one of the same size.

The extra expenditure was made to ensure that the history of the sugar plant was preserved, said Bao.

According to the plans, apart from existing studios and office buildings, which can provide all-in-one film and TV services, the park will also have scenic spots, hotels, and commercial complexes. They include Beijing courtyards, a Prince Kung (Gong) Mansion, commercial pedestrian streets featuring the Ming- and Qing-Dynasty styles, and European-like streets.

Zhuhai Cultural & Creative Industry Park [Photos by Zeng Yao / Zhuhai Daily]

The goal is to cater to high-end receptions, conventions, exhibitions, tourism, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment. It should become a large-scale resort park focusing on film, television, and leisure, a company executive added.

It was revealed that a museum to highlight outstanding overseas returnees is also under construction. This will include four exhibition halls to feature historic figures that had studied in the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, and Europe. Another two halls will introduce the information on studying abroad -- present and past. One hall will be exclusively for Rong Hong (Yung Wing), the Forefather of Overseas Study and a famous educator, diplomatist, and social activist born in Nanping Town.