Hengdian · Zhejiang
Hengdian is Zhejiang's studio town and the largest film backlot in Asia — a Qin palace, a 1:1 copy of the Forbidden City and a night-time theme park, 36 km from Yiwu.
The short version
The place itself
Hengdian is not a city that grew into a film studio; it is a film studio the size of a town. Since 1996 the Hengdian Group has poured billions of yuan into turning a patch of Dongyang countryside into the largest backlot in Asia, and the American trade press gave it the name that stuck — China's Hollywood. There are now more than a dozen sets spread across some 10 sq km, each one a full-scale reconstruction of a different century.
The sets are the point, and they are gloriously unashamed of being fake. There is a Qin palace with 27 halls and a 2,289 m wall, built for Chen Kaige's 'The Emperor and the Assassin' and since used for 'Hero' and 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'. There is a 1:1 copy of the Forbidden City that has stood in for the real thing in a hundred palace dramas. There is a 19th-century Guangzhou and Hong Kong street built for Xie Jin's 'The Opium War', and a Song-dynasty river town lifted straight out of a classical painting.
What keeps it from being a waxworks is the working industry around it. Some 7,500 registered extras live here, more than 600 films and 3,000-odd TV episodes have been shot in town, and the studios say they welcome eight million visitors a year. You will see costumed actors eating lunch, prop carts rattling down back streets and crews filming in the open — the behind-the-scenes spectacle is half the ticket.
It is an easy place to bolt onto a Zhejiang trip: Yiwu is 36 km away and has the nearest airport, Hangzhou is 160 km north with shuttle coaches, and the sets are joined by a ¥1 tourist bus looping every fifteen minutes. Give it two days — one for the historical sets, one for Dream Valley after dark.
Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
The great historical set of Hengdian: 27 palace halls, a defensive wall 2,289 m long and 18 m high, and the 120 m-deep Sihai Guiyi hall. It was built for 'The Emperor and the Assassin', which won the 1999 Cannes technical grand prize, and has since hosted 'Hero', 'The Myth' and 'The Mummy 3'. ¥95; about two hours.
A 1:1 replica of the Forbidden City and the biggest single base in the park, blending Ming and Qing court architecture with a touch of Republican style. It is where the palace dramas are shot — 'Empresses in the Palace', 'Palace', 'Scarlet Heart' — and it stages the 'Eight Banners Horse Battle' at 09:00 and 14:00. ¥100.
Where Hengdian began: built in August 1996 for Xie Jin's 'The Opium War', it recreates 19th-century Guangzhou with the Pearl river running through it, and 19th-century Hong Kong with Queen's Road, the Governor's House and St John's Cathedral. Hundreds of films have shot here. ¥95; allow three to four hours.
A Song-dynasty city built from Zhang Zeduan's painting: 120-odd buildings, six bridges, nine wharves, six boats and fourteen memorial arches, in a walled outer city, inner city and palace city threaded by the winding Bian river. It stages 'A Dream of Bianliang' and 'Laughing Through the Gate of Heaven'. ¥95.
A night-time film-experience park open 16:00–21:00, with a volcano eruption and a flash-flood set, a haunted pirate house, an earthquake simulator, a food street and the musical spectacular 'Fantasy Tai Chi' — five movements built around the I Ching, with the world's largest live volcano. ¥195, or ¥100 during the day-park closed season.
Two slower stops for when the sets start to blur. Pingyan Caves is a provincial scenic area and a Daoist retreat called the finest cave-heaven in Jiangnan, with a cable car over the forest and the whole park. Dazhi Temple has a 45 m Mahavira Hall and a 28.88 m gilded Sakyamuni — the biggest indoor Buddha in China. ¥80 and ¥20.
The nearest airport is Yiwu (YIW), 36 km away and linked to most Chinese cities; from the airport go to the Yiwu Jiangdong coach station and take a shuttle to Hengdian, every half hour and about 30 minutes. Hangzhou Xiaoshan airport also runs coaches to Hengdian at 10:30, 13:10 and 16:30, returning at 06:10, 09:00 and 13:10 (enquire on 0579-86690371). By train, alight at Yiwu station, take bus K805 to the Jiangdong coach station, then the shuttle — about an hour in all. By coach, Hangzhou South station runs direct to Hengdian resort for ¥64 several times a day, and the Huanglong tourist centre for ¥60; Shanghai South station also runs direct, or to Dongyang West, from where shuttles leave every ten minutes.
Inside Hengdian the sets are joined by a tourist loop bus — every 15 minutes, ¥1 a ride — running from the visitor centre through Guangzhou Street and the Ming-Qing Palace to Dream Valley, the Qin Palace, the Qingming scroll and the Huaxia Culture Park. Taxis between sets cost about ¥10, pedicabs ¥3–5, and the little three-wheeled motor carts flag at ¥5 and never charge more than ¥10 for one run. Distances between sets are walkable if you have the legs, but after a full day of palace courtyards you will not.
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C / 4°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
| February | 14°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Very busy | Good |
| March | 18°C / 10°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| April | 24°C / 16°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 28°C / 21°C · cool, damp | Busy | OK |
| June | 32°C / 25°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 35°C / 28°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| August | 34°C / 27°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| September | 29°C / 23°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| October | 24°C / 17°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 18°C / 11°C · clear and mild | Quiet | Best |
| December | 13°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
Two days is right. Day one does the historical sets — the Qin Palace, the Qingming scroll and the Ming-Qing Palace — and day two takes Guangzhou and Hong Kong Streets and the Ming-Qing Dwellings in the morning and Dream Valley after 16:00. A third day buys the Huaxia Culture Park, Dazhi Temple and the Pingyan Caves cable car, or a slower run at the live shows. One day is possible only if you buy a combo and move fast; you will see buildings, not scenes.
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Yes, if you come for the spectacle rather than the stories. The sets are full-scale architecture — a Qin palace, a Forbidden City copy, a 19th-century Hong Kong street — the costumed performers are genuinely fun, and the working film industry around them is fascinating to watch even with the sound off. Come for two days, not one, and treat it as a theme park about history.
You might, but do not bank on it. Filming happens year-round and there are thousands of shoots, some 7,500 registered extras and dozens of star vehicles at any time; the best places to see people are the sets themselves, the street restaurants, the hotel lifts, the KTVs at night and the late coffee shops. Check the studio schedules before you go if there is someone specific you want to see — and never interrupt a shoot.
Most individual sets are ¥95 a head, the Ming-Qing Palace is ¥100, the Pingyan Caves ¥80 and Dazhi Temple ¥20. There are three combos: two sets of your choice plus Dream Valley for ¥350, five sets for ¥390, and five sets plus Dream Valley for ¥650. Book online for a discount, and note the concession list — children under 1.2 m go free, and seniors, teachers, students, soldiers and disabled visitors all get reductions.
Plan the whole evening — the park opens at 16:00 and closes at 21:00, and it only makes sense after dark. The two shows that matter are 'Flash Flood and Mountain Torrent' and 'Fantasy Tai Chi', the latter rated one of China's ten most influential tourism performances and using the world's largest live volcano set. Buy it as part of a combo and it costs far less than the ¥195 gate.
Start on Wansheng food street, which pretends to cover every regional style in China — Chongqing hotpot, Beijing lamb hotpot, northwest big-plate chicken, Jinhua sour-fish casserole — and is where the crews eat. For Dongyang cooking proper, order steamed pork with buns (mantou weng rou, the ceremonial banquet dish), glutinous-rice sausage, acorn tofu and grilled tofu. The Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng on Baxian Street (13706795049) is a long-standing star haunt, all curry brisket rice and milk tea.
Spring and autumn. Summer is hot and high-UV and August and September bring typhoon risk, so watch the forecast if you travel then. Winter is quiet and cold; the sets still run and the shows go on, and the crowds thin enough that you can photograph the palaces without a hundred people in front of them.
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