Creative sectors breathe new life into industrial sites

As the moon rose and night fell, visitors flocked to Mukden Factory, a three-story red brick historical building in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The popularity of this venue stemmed not only from its distinctive industrial architecture and expansive expanses for viewing the starry night sky, but also from a digitized version of Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" projected onto its floors and walls.

The 3D and AR technologies offered visitors a chance to immerse themselves in the deceptive world of swirling and spiraling motifs from the artist's masterpieces, but in reality, they were surrounded by the two chimneys of a nearly century-old equipment factory.

"I never expected I could appreciate the beauty of my favorite painting in such an immersive dreamscape," said Li Dayong, a 70-year-old retiree, with visible excitement.

Projectors worth over 1 million yuan (about 138,509 U.S. dollars) infused new life to the once-abandoned structure by illuminating its walls with works by prominent artists from around the world.

Industrialization has played a crucial role in the development of China's economy and people's living standards while shaping the lifestyle and mindset of the Chinese.

However, the emergence of other modern industries has accelerated the demise of heavy industries in recent decades. China has made enormous efforts to protect industrial heritage and relics by raising public awareness and through diversified repurposing.

Since 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has successively released five national industrial heritage protection lists of nearly 200 sites.

Shenyang's Tiexi District was the center of the former industrial powerhouse and once a byword for the country's industrial spirit, boasting a wealth of industrial sites after industrial upgrading and relocation.

Within 3 km of the Mukden Factory, a batch of industrial sites has been repurposed into post-industrial parks, forming a creative industry cluster.

Among them is the 1905 creative industry park, a former metal workshop, with its saw-shaped roof and steel beams that supported the gantry crane still intact.

The rusty and out-of-use industrial sites separate the enormous space of nearly 10,000 square meters into numerous cubicles, an ideal incubator for the start-ups of young artists, where coffee shops, galleries and restaurants are located.

In 2019, it was inaugurated as the national entrepreneurship incubation demonstration zone for the creative industry, encouraging many musicians, dramatists and designers to launch their own businesses.

Besides the avant-garde artists, an increasing number of Gen Z'ers have relocated to the heartland of China's heavy industry, impelled by legions of industrial heritage and the spirit of enterprise behind the sites.

Outside the 1905 creative industry park stood the enormous, gleaming metal letters "Tiexi" that were cast in the last furnace of molten steel of Shenyang Heavy Machinery Group prior to its relocation.

Guo Zhongxiao, head of the Tiexi district government, said the district represents a number of firsts in the country's industrial history, and boasts a pronounced industrial wealth and the glorious memory of the city.

The integration of creative sectors with industrial sites across the nation prevents the loss of a beloved place that was a homelike atmosphere for numerous industrial workers as well as a community for many in the industrial zone.

In Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, the former Pearl River brewery has been transformed into a beer culture and creative art park, where young people gather to enjoy the Pearl River's beautiful nightlife with a beer.

In central China's Wuhan, the establishment of the Hanyangzao creative industry park has brought about new possibilities for the once-famous Hanyang ordnance factory. Its industrial aspect combined with modern art made it a popular tourist destination.

"Industrial heritage is not about cold steel and masonry," said Zhang Sining, a researcher with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. "With China's urbanization entering a new phase of quality improvement, cities have focused on the richness of the industrial spirit. The historical memory and the humanistic spirit behind the old factories and workshops will inject new impetus into urban renewal and upgrading."