The county of Fengyang is constructing the largest film studio in Anhui province to promote the development of culture and tourism industries.

The film studio, with a total area of up to 260 hectares and an investment of 5 billion yuan ($816.5 million) focuses on reproducing a city in the Ming Dynasty style (1368-1644). The studio consists of attractions such as Ming streets, a Ming square, a Ming royal palace and a duplication of Huangjue Temple. An outdoor 28.8-meter bronze statue of Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), the founder of the Ming Dynasty, will be erected. The statue will be the only and largest figure of its kind in China.

The county plans to convert the film studio to a film studio theme park in the coming three years, which could boost local employment by providing more than 5,000 jobs. It could also promote surrounding scenic spots such as Fengyang Mountain National Geopark, the 4A Langxiang Valley scenic resort, the 3A Jiushan Cave scenic spot and Woniu Lake scenic spot. It's expected that the total number of tourists may increase from 3.4 million to 6 million by completion.

Fengyang, together with Nanjing and Xuyi, are three main cities featuring Ming Dynasty characteristics. Fengyang is a well-known historical site as the childhood hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang. It is home to a national historic site known as 'Zhongdu Imperial City of the Ming and the Imperial Mausoleum's Statuary'.

By Huang Pei

Edited by Michael Thai