HENGDIAN — Four friends in silk robes and jade hairpins stood in an ornate palace chamber, acting out a court intrigue for a camera crew. One consort slapped another across the face, the director called for another take, and the cast dissolved into laughter. It was not a television drama: the women had travelled more than 1,500 kilometres to star in their own production at Hengdian World Studios, the sprawling complex in eastern China known as "China's Hollywood".
The scene, reported by Reuters on 2 November 2026, captures a fast-growing corner of China's leisure economy. Hengdian, where many of the country's period dramas are filmed, has expanded into experiential tourism, inviting ordinary visitors to shoot their own scenes on sets ranging from a replica of Beijing's Forbidden City to old Shanghai streets used in professional productions. Since the experience launched in August, Hengdian said more than 2,000 people had taken part, with bookings full on most days, particularly at weekends and during holidays.
For the visitors, the appeal is simple: for a few hundred yuan, they can step inside the stories they usually watch on a screen. For Hengdian, it is a new use for decades of film-making know-how at a moment when professional shoots face pressure from cheaper artificial-intelligence production and tighter platform financing. And for China's wider economy, it is one more sign that consumers, cautious about big purchases, are still willing to spend on travel, entertainment and experiences.
Illustration: Visitors in silk palace costumes film a court drama scene on a replica palace set — an illustration, not a photograph of the studio.
What Happened
Reuters described a shoot in which the friends played out a palace drama, complete with costumes, direction and retakes. One of the group, Clare Huang, was playing an empress. "When I was a kid, I loved playing director and getting the other children to act out scenes," she told Reuters. "I've always enjoyed this kind of thing, so today a few of us girls get to see what it feels like."
For 388 yuan (about $55) each, Huang and her friends received hair and makeup, costumes, a 30-minute directed shoot and a 90-second edited video, according to Reuters. Guests can choose from more than 20 scripts, most involving palace intrigue, romance or betrayal. Another customer, Xie, a 28-year-old influencer who gave only her family name, travelled to Hengdian after seeing videos of the shoots on social media and paid 498 yuan (about $70) for a solo session based on an original script.
"We don't have proms in China, so now people go out in costume instead," Xie told Reuters. "Everyone is willing to dress up a bit more boldly and show themselves in the best way they can."
Demand has been strong enough to strain the schedule. "During the National Day holiday, I shoot from morning until dark, and there are still guests we can't fit in," said Wang Weili, a director who once filmed 20 groups in a single day, according to Reuters.
Xinhua reported a similar picture during the National Day holiday from 1 to 7 October, when tourists paying to star in short dramas became a common sight at Hengdian, in Zhejiang province. Visitors could complete a scene in 10 to 45 minutes, with directors handing out scripts and coaching performers on the spot, Xinhua reported. A retired teacher from Shanghai, identified only as Wang, had just wrapped up her turn as an emperor's mother inside a replica palace. Imperial palace dramas, "dragon king" fantasy and time-travel stories were the most popular genres, Xinhua reported, with more than 40 scripts available and a solo short drama starting at 218 yuan.
Illustration: Tourists in vintage costumes on a replica old Shanghai street set — an illustration, not a photograph of the studio.
Background
Hengdian did not become a tourist attraction overnight. For years, visitors came to look at the sets where their favourite dramas were made. The new step is to turn spectators into actors, using the studio's own directors, camera crews, costume departments and makeup artists to package film production into a short, bookable experience.
Xinhua reported that Hengdian drew more than 9 million visitors in the first half of 2026, up 21.2 percent year on year — a figure for the complex as a whole, not for the short-drama experience alone. At peak times, more than 100 people a day signed up for the short-drama experience, Xinhua reported. "The best way to turn film from something you watch into something you feel is to let tourists become the actors," director Zhang Jinquan told Xinhua.
The shift also reflects pressure inside the screen industry. Reporting on Hengdian's tourist shoots has noted that cheaper AI production and cuts in platform financing have reduced live-action shoots, leaving studios looking for steadier income from visitors. Turning production into modules — a script, a costume, a set, a director, a finished clip within days — lets a studio sell the film-making process itself, rather than only the finished drama.
Social media has done much of the marketing. Xie found Hengdian through videos of the shoots online, a pattern familiar across China's experience economy, where a concert, a night tour or a film set can become a destination in its own right once clips of it circulate. Visitors leave not only with a video but with content of their own to post, which in turn draws the next group of travellers.
Why It Matters
Reuters framed Hengdian's experiment as part of a broader shift in Chinese consumer spending. While a slowing economy and a prolonged property slump have weighed on purchases of luxury goods and home furnishings, consumers have continued to spend on travel, entertainment and experiences, fuelling demand for immersive attractions such as live-action role-playing games, historical re-enactments and interactive film shoots.
That distinction matters for an economy trying to rebalance towards domestic consumption. Goods can be postponed; a birthday, a holiday or a once-in-a-lifetime shoot with friends is harder to defer, and it pulls spending into hotels, restaurants, transport and local shops along the way. Xinhua reported in October that China's experience economy reached 19.67 trillion yuan (about $2.93 trillion) in 2025, up 29.58 percent year on year, citing market research firm iiMedia Research, which projected it could approach 59.66 trillion yuan by 2035.
Official data points in the same direction. Per capita spending on services reached 13,602 yuan in 2025, accounting for 46.1 percent of total consumer spending, Xinhua reported, while service retail sales grew 5.5 percent last year, outpacing goods retail by 1.7 percentage points. Every one yuan spent on a ticket to a large-scale performance generates nearly seven yuan in related spending on transport, accommodation, dining, tourism and shopping, according to estimates by the China Association of Performing Arts cited by Xinhua.
Fresh data released at the weekend underlined the resilience of services. China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 49.7 in October, down 0.5 points from September, while the services index stood at 50.0, indicating broadly stable activity, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as reported by Xinhua on 2 November. Business activity in culture, sports and entertainment services rose into expansionary territory, supported by travel and consumer spending during the National Day holiday.
For cultural institutions elsewhere, Hengdian offers a test case in participation over spectatorship. A museum, a studio or a heritage site that lets visitors perform, rather than only observe, may hold attention longer, generate more shareable memories and reach younger audiences who arrive through a phone screen rather than a brochure. The risk, equally, is that the experience becomes a novelty — fun once, but hard to repeat — unless scripts, sets and stories keep changing.
Illustration: Young travellers in colourful costumes share photos and videos at a lively cultural event — an illustration, not a photograph of any real festival.
What Happens Next
Hengdian's immediate challenge is capacity. If bookings stay full at weekends and holidays, the studio will need more directors, costume and makeup crews, and time slots — or higher prices — to meet demand without diluting the experience that made it popular. The Reuters account of a director filming 20 groups in a single day during the holiday suggests the current model is already running hot.
The next question is whether the format travels. Other film studios, theme parks and heritage sites in China — and beyond — are watching whether tourists will pay, repeatedly, to be the cast rather than the audience. If they do, expect more short, scripted, shareable experiences: a scene rather than a tour, a finished clip rather than a souvenir photograph.
Policy is also moving in this direction. Xinhua reported that a State Council work plan issued in January called for supporting emotion- and experience-oriented services, and that the plan for expanding consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), rolled out in July, named experience-oriented consumption as a priority for cultivating new business models. That gives local governments and cultural operators a reason to back similar projects.
For now, Hengdian's palace doors stay open — and the next group of friends is already in costume, waiting for the director to call "action". Whether the boom lasts will depend less on any single shoot than on whether studios can keep the stories fresh, the prices accessible and the finished videos worth sharing long after the costumes come off.
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FAQ
What is Hengdian World Studios?
Hengdian World Studios is a sprawling film and television production complex in Zhejiang province, eastern China, known as "China's Hollywood", where many Chinese period dramas are filmed. It has expanded into tourism, letting visitors explore — and now film scenes on — its sets.
How much does it cost to film your own short drama at Hengdian?
Reuters reported a package of 388 yuan (about $55) per person including hair and makeup, costumes, a 30-minute directed shoot and a 90-second edited video. Xinhua reported a solo short drama starting at 218 yuan, with a fuller package at 388 yuan.
How long does a tourist shoot take?
According to Xinhua, visitors can complete a scene in 10 to 45 minutes, with directors providing scripts and on-the-spot coaching. A finished video is ready within two days, Xinhua reported.
Why are Chinese consumers spending more on experiences?
Reuters linked the trend to a broader shift: while spending on luxury goods and home furnishings has been weighed down by a slowing economy and a property slump, consumers have continued to spend on travel, entertainment and experiences, including immersive attractions and interactive shoots.
How big is China's experience economy?
Xinhua, citing iiMedia Research, reported that China's experience economy reached 19.67 trillion yuan (about $2.93 trillion) in 2025, up 29.58 percent year on year, and was projected to approach 59.66 trillion yuan by 2035.
Sources
Reuters, "At 'China's Hollywood', visitors become stars as consumers spend more on experiences", 2 November 2026. Xinhua, "Lights, camera, tourists! Short dramas rewrite the script for 'China's Hollywood'", 7 October 2026. Xinhua, "Economic Watch: Experience economy emerges as fresh spur of China's domestic demand", 26 October 2026. Xinhua via the State Council Information Office, "China's non-manufacturing PMI dips, services activity remains stable", 2 November 2026.
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