Nestled in the mountainous terrain of eastern Zhejiang, Xincheng County has long been blessed with rich natural landscapes, which once attracted classic film productions such as "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" and "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" for on-location shoots. Now, the county is accelerating its push into the micro-drama industry by building a digital film services hub, transforming itself from a mere filming location into a more complete content production center.
At the Xincheng Digital Film Services Base, which officially launched operations in June, the crew of the short drama "Spring Wind Crosses the Third Class" is currently filming a scene set in a school auditorium. Over recent days, the 60-plus-member team has been shooting exterior scenes at a local school during the day and interior scenes at the base in the evening. Micro-dramas demand a fast shooting pace with frequent scene changes, and the ability to switch locations smoothly within a single day directly impacts production costs. To tackle the persistent challenges of scattered sites, cumbersome coordination, and lengthy approval processes, Xincheng has consolidated its previously fragmented resources into a centralized filming location database. To date, the database has cataloged over 200 shooting sites, spanning natural scenery, historical landmarks, and other categories. Once a crew submits its filming requirements, the local government coordinates site scouting, venue access, and transportation logistics in a unified manner.
The base offers 109 dedicated crew rooms, along with sound stages, actor rehearsal areas, and other centralized amenities, while the campus also includes restaurants, cafés, and additional facilities. As more production teams settle into the base, local industry professionals are finding an increasing number of projects they can take on right at their doorstep. Beyond the camera lens, these filming sites are being reconnected into tourism routes. Serving one side for production crews and the other for tourist spending, the same landscapes are continuously generating new industrial value and consumption opportunities.
He Jiani, deputy general manager of the Xincheng County Cultural Tourism Group, noted, "We have launched five check-in routes based on scenes from the films and dramas. This summer, attractions such as the Great Buddha Temple, Shijiu Peak, and Tianmu Mountain all saw year-on-year growth in both visitor numbers and revenue. We welcomed a total of 2.197 million visitors, a roughly 7.9% increase from the same period last year, with revenue exceeding 40 million yuan, up 9.08% year-on-year."
Xincheng County: Old Places Give Rise to New Business Formats
In Xincheng, familiar mountains, waterways, villages, and streets are continually incorporating fresh consumer offerings. From stacking multiple experiences at a single site to clustering diverse business types along a single street, these new scenes are reshaping how county-level consumption happens. In Huishan Town, a reservoir has been filled with an ever-growing array of new activities. Visitors can relax with a cup of coffee on a floating platform, swim in the water, paddleboard, or even reel in a plump reservoir fish themselves. Many of these ideas come from camp operator Yu Qingyun, who returned from studying abroad. Building on the reservoir's existing fishing and dining options, she added younger-generation favorites such as water-side coffee, paddleboarding, and camping. The variety of experiences has drawn tourists from surrounding areas to make dedicated trips. Lunch, coffee, and water sports are all woven into a single itinerary. On weekends, the camp sees an average daily footfall of 400 to 500 visitors, and on holidays, single-day traffic can exceed 1,000 people.
After savoring the delicious reservoir fish during the day, visitors can head to Nanjie Street in the evening to explore the unique charm of this so-called carbohydrate kingdom. This street, measuring just over 200 meters in length, hosts more than 60 businesses offering distinctive Xincheng carb-heavy snacks, coffee shops, and youth hostels, alongside intangible cultural heritage performances and nighttime entertainment. Together, these elements have turned the old town's resources into a new landmark for cultural tourism consumption. Today, locals and visitors alike agree: for carbohydrate food, Nanjie is the place to go. Liang Lijiang, a Xincheng native who has run a handmade taro dumpling shop for over a decade, was among the first merchants to set up on Nanjie. During the recent summer holiday, the street attracted approximately 360,000 visits, with revenue surpassing 10.08 million yuan, both up more than 10% year-on-year. Beyond Nanjie, Xincheng is developing three additional districts nearby, focusing on intangible heritage experiences, water-based leisure, and cultural study tours. These efforts complement the filming location database connected with the digital film services base, further enriching the county's tourism and consumption landscape.
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