Moving 'Qingming Festival by the Riverside' on exhibition in Zhuhai

The electronic version of Zhang Zeduan's famous Chinese painting, Qingming Festival by the Riverside, is on display at Exhibition Hall 8 of the Zhuhai International Air Show Center from July 8 to Aug 31.

The electronic version is a 1:1 restoration of the art piece that was exhibited at the China Pavilion during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo on a screen that is 128 meters (140 yd) in length and 6.8 meters (22.3 ft) in height.

New life was breathed into the ancient painting as both day and night versions have been released, featuring a total of 691 characters in the former and 377 in the night latter. Each character in this painting is endowed with its own name and story, while the day and night versions rotate every four minutes.

The electronic version of the painting, Qingming Festival by the Riverside, is displayed on a screen that is 128 meters in length and 6.8 meters in height. [Photo by Zhang Zhou / Guanhai App]

In addition, the painting vividly portrays the prosperity of the Bianhe River in the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1279) with 73 cattle and other livestock, more than 20 carriages and sedan cars, and 29 ships.

Liu Xianzheng, the person in charge of the exhibition in Zhuhai, noted that compared with Zhang's original piece, the innovative electronic version not only incorporates movement and sound but also showcases both its daytime scenery and night market view. 

In order to create the electronic version, the production team had to construct a virtual city with digital technology and gave each character a background story. These stories were then turned into a three-dimensional animation.

Ding Ying of the exhibitor's organizer, Crystal Computer Graphics, noted that even the eyebrows of each character can be distinctly observed when the painting is magnified.

A total of 1 million free exhibition tickets have been distributed to primary school students in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and all citizens are welcome to enjoy the exhibition.