New economy grows from old factories (industrial tourism)
Old workshops, water towers, chimneys... the elements of many industrial sites constitute a unique tourist attraction-the memory of the eastern suburbs of Chengdu.
Since the 1950s, it has become a cluster of industrial enterprises in western my country.
Times have changed. As industrial companies moved abroad, the old factories in the industrial base were abandoned and left in a corner of the city.
With the prosperity of the cultural and tourism industry, these industrial relics have been reborn from the ashes, transformed into a new landmark of cultural and tourism integration, and transformed into a modern cultural and creative industry park.
Reasonable transformation, adding historical relics to cultural tourism genes
Beginning in 2009, Chengdu has used the old factory sites in the old industrial zone in the eastern suburbs to preserve some of the factories with distinctive industrial characteristics as industrial civilization relics, and combine them with the cultural and creative industries to create a music industry base, which is now the eastern suburbs. memory.
Use the industrial heritage to develop the creative economy, and “grow” the new economy from the old factory buildings: themed settlements such as the Creative World, Creative Courtyard, and Film and Television Villages, turning the old factories into creative workshops.
Entering the west gate of the park, a statue of the orchestra conductor waving forward stands above the round blast furnace full of rust by the door. The tall chimney, rusty iron pipes, and various sculptures create a bizarre visual effect .
The Locomotive Square is a place with a particularly strong industrial atmosphere in the park: a steam locomotive drags several green carriages and waits quietly on the rails. The car body hidden in the factory seems to be honking forward at any time.
"We strive to repair the old as the old and use the old houses with new ones." Gu Qingfeng, the project leader of the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, who is in charge of the Dongjiao Memory Industrial Relics Reconstruction Project, told reporters that in order to completely preserve the industrial memory here, Dongjiao Memory hired Well-known domestic designers have transformed various complex factory buildings into commercial buildings, focusing on the protective transformation of historical relics such as Soviet-style red brick factory buildings and chimney corridors with industrial symbols.
After renovation, the charm of the industrial building can be fully preserved in the memory of the eastern suburbs.
The large workshop with a span of 24 meters and a height of 16 meters was transformed into a theater and theater; a hydrogen tank with a diameter of 16 meters was built into an audio-visual space; a multi-layered and multi-pipe workshop turned into an art exhibition hall; chimneys, conveyor belts, The boiler has also been transformed into an integral part of the music bar... Nostalgic and fashionable artistic atmosphere came into being here, and more and more cultural and creative enterprises and theater troupes have chosen to settle here.
Policy guidance, market mechanism drives emerging industries
In the process of “reinventing” the memory of the Eastern Suburbs, Chenghua District, where it is located, introduced the main body of the cultural and creative market, implemented functional reengineering and content implantation, tapped brand, cultural and economic value, and explored interest coordination mechanisms in terms of later development benefits. Major policy guidance and support encourage enterprises to actively implement the protection and utilization of industrial heritage.
"Dongjiao Memory is based on operations. Diversification makes this area full of vitality." Ma Jianwei, director of the Dongjiao Cultural Management Committee, introduced that the self-blood formation of Dongjiao Memory is very important in the field of cultural creativity. It can only be recognized by the market. The tourism model of similar industrial sites can last for a long time.
"With the improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation, the turnover in recent months has gradually increased." Fan Xing, director of the Dongjiao Memory Star Drama Village Theater, said that the popularity here is becoming more and more popular now, and it is located in the eastern suburbs of the city. It has a valuable tourist location advantage, which means a huge potential for revenue.
"The cultural and creative consumption here is very attractive. I often invite friends to participate in various activities." Senior animation fan Wang Ye is a frequent visitor of Dongjiao Memory. He who often visits Manzhan here said that he wants to "eat all the restaurants here." .
Animation is only one link in the cultural and creative industry of Dongjiao Memory. As a cultural and creative gathering place for the development of e-sports, music and drama, and film and television media, Dongjiao Memory’s online attention and offline passenger flow have continued to hit new highs in recent years.
In the past two years, the average daily tourist reception of Dongjiao Memory has reached 20,000. In 2019, it attracted 7.35 million domestic and foreign tourists.
Deep integration, collective memory helps the experience economy
Today, the memory of Dongjiao has spread far and wide.
As it bears the traces of Chengdu's modern urban development and industrial civilization, the surrounding cultural and creative industries are accelerating their convergence in the eastern suburbs memory area.
At present, Chenghua District has formulated the "Industrial Civilization Heritage Protection and Utilization Plan" to strengthen the protective development and demonstration use of 15 key industrial sites such as the rolling stock factory, and plans to create "the traces of ancient Shu in the north of the city" around the eastern suburbs of memory. A batch of characteristic cultural landmarks such as "Locomotive Factory China's Most Beautiful Subway Station".
Recently, Dongjiao Memory has signed contracts for major projects such as the Western Cultural and Creative Core and China Song Art City. 330 projects have been launched and a total investment of approximately 60.6 billion yuan has been completed.
Next, Dongjiao Memory will work hand in hand with CRRC to promote the factory’s entry into the park with the purpose of protecting and utilizing industrial cultural heritage, combining the independent transformation of enterprises and the transformation of old cities, so as to make it compatible with the surrounding built areas.
The combination of machine and function complement each other, adding a strong touch to the industrial culture of the eastern suburbs.
How does the cultural tourism industry gather here?
In the memory of the eastern suburbs, the integration of cultural and tourism is not a simple addition, but a deep integration.
“Here, the collective memory of history and culture is converted into venues, stories, and experience projects, which will resonate with tourists and create an experience economy.” According to the person in charge of relevant departments in Chenghua District, it is currently being constructed through projects such as the Locomotive Factory "Quantum World Digital Entertainment Workshop" The cultural and creative industries have upgraded the level of business formats and will accelerate the improvement of the residential quality in this area.
Today, the first batch of builders in Chengdu Dongjiao Industrial Zone are more than ancient.
There are old people who often go back to the eastern suburbs to remember, standing in front of an old factory or a lathe for a long time: "I used to be in a nearby factory. Now the factory is gone, and the factory is still there. It's good to come back often." The emotions of the city often start from its prosperity and leisure, but are loyal to its history and memory. I hope that the memory of the eastern suburbs will always retain a longing for the passing years.
Layout design: Zhang Fangman
Our reporter Zhang Wen