The Largest Chinese Theater Cluster Unique Henan - Land of Dramas

Henan's traditional cultural works are deeply remembered by too many people. The "Tang Palace Night Banquet", a recreation of the Tang Sancai music figurines, shows the beauty of the Tang Dynasty; the "Luo Shen Shui Fu", a breathtakingly beautiful underwater dance, so many netizens amazed: "This is the real traditional culture program". 2022 Chinese 24 Solar Terms series, but also make Henan TV add to the drama catch-up list of every traditional culture lovers.

But that's not all, the surprises are just beginning! Henan has spent billions to build China's first panoramic immersive experience theme park - Unique Henan - Land of Dramas, which is currently the world's largest theater cluster, allowing people to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture in an immersive way.

"Unique Henan - Land of Dramas (只有河南·戏剧幻城)", located in Zhongmou County, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, is a 1,536-acre project, the core area "Huan Cheng (幻城)" is 328 meters long and 15 meters high.

It is one of the largest and longest performing theater complexes in China, with 21 theaters of various sizes and nearly 1,000 actors, divided into 3 main plays and 18 smaller plays, with a total play length of nearly 700 minutes.

During the month of opening, "Land of Dramas" welcomed 150,000 visitors from all over the country, and Zhengzhou even entered the top ten of the China tourism hotspots for that month directly!

Land of Dramas' Chief Conceptualist, Chief Director, and Chief Scriptwriter Wang Chaoge, a leading figure in China's cultural industry, has created the "Seeing" and "Impressions" series, which are evergreen productions in Pingyao, Dunhuang, West Lake, and other tourist destinations in China.

But the effort it took to create "Land of Dramas" was unprecedented for her, because it is not just a play, but a whole theater kingdom. She had the audacity to say, as long as you walk into the "Land of Dramas", after 3 minutes, it will control your feet; after 13 minutes, it will control your eyes; after 23 minutes, it will control your emotions; and when you walk out of the theater, it will control your heart.

Then let's go into this fantasy world together.

 

First Entry to "Land of Dramas"

Before you enter the "Huang Cheng", you will be attracted by a hundreds acres of wheat field, an endless green wheat field that controls your feet in the most simple way. At this moment you just want to stay here and watch it in all seasons.

After passing through the wheat field, you will be surprised again by a rammed earth wall of 328 meters long and 15 meters high, which is incomparably huge, real and unreal, as if from ancient times.

Stairs, walls, arches, and corridors, the simple arrangement between square and circle shows the sparse atmosphere. In the daytime, the blue sky and yellow earth are a beautiful match, looking serene and sublime.

At night, this wall is transformed into the backdrop of the light show, performing a dream-like light show, when the world's longest dynamic "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" unfold in this, the shock beyond words.

 

The amazing visual experience in "Land of Dramas"

When you enter the interior, the show has just begun.

"Unique Henan - Land of Dramas" imitates the ancient residential area system, dividing the square space into 56 completely different compartments, one compartment for each scene, encompassing everything. In the "Huang Cheng", every corner you walk through can reap a fresh and exciting mystery box experience.

The first space of the illusion city, Qiantai(乾台), is a fusion of modern art, technology, and VR space.

The entire background is like a staggered chessboard, with white as the base and thin lines delineating the frame, outlining countless small squares, with the architectural model standing in the middle of the chessboard.

"Huang Cheng" team highly integrated sound, light, electricity, painting, the most exquisite results are reflected here.

In fact, tens of thousands of custom-made lamps are hidden in the Qiantai! At night, it can be transformed into this dynamic game of light and shadow chess.

Qian means heaven and represents the male. The regular program of Qiantai is the martial arts demonstrated by men. The world-famous Henan Kung Fu, Shaolin and Tai chi, are performed here.

On the opposite side of the Qiantai is the Kuntai (坤台). Kun means earth and represents the female. The ancient stage with carved beams is probably the place where the ladies of the Tang Dynasty went on a spring tour.

Compared with the modern science fiction of Qiantai, the ancient color and fragrance of Kuntai seem to have traveled back in time.

 

Wonderful drama in "Land of Dramas"

As one of the largest theater clusters in China, "Land of Dramas" is never short of great stories, with a total of 21 theatres. With over 4,000 minutes of performances per day, if you want to watch all the stories, you need to stay here for at least three days!

The "Huang Cheng" theater embodies the best part. In the center of the stage, various kinds of pavilions and palaces will rise up, and ancient people from different dynasties appear successively.

Countless moments of the thousand-year history of the Chinese nation are presented on this stage. But the most exciting part of the drama is to watch the famous sages of history come together and buffoonery with each other.

There are also the wise conversations between Laozi and Confucius, the long sighs of Emperor Huizong of Song, and the bewilderment of Du Fu as he recites his youthful poems.

The performances in the 18 small theaters were equally exciting.

The "Tian Zi Jia Liu (天子驾六, Emperor Six Horses Carriage)" is set at an archaeological site, a drama with only two characters is staged. The young man at the archaeological site does not understand the meaning of history and says something rude to the archaeology, and the Emperor of Zhou, who wakes up from the tomb, meets him.

They argued until the young man inadvertently mentioned "Tou Tao Bao Lit (投桃报李, one good turn deserves another.)". Emperor of Zhou was surprised and asked if this was a line from the Classic of Poetry.

The Emperor of Zhou then realizes that civilization transcends his life and has been passed down for thousands of years. He no longer cared that his dynasty had long since overturned and forgot that his physical body had already faded away.

And the young man, impressed by the Emperor of Zhou, expresses his true feelings at the end of the story: Go to the museum and see these relics that have been passed down for thousands of years! They are waiting for everyone.

The one that evokes the most emotional resonance is a school. The teacher of "Hong Miao School" is having a lesson, when the audience enters the theater, they become the students. Some lucky audience was even called up to the podium by the teacher, and the embarrassment and restlessness that belonged to the youthful age brought people back to the age of 16.

In addition to theater, there are also purely artistic performances in the "Land of Dramas", even if logic can't make sense of it, please let your eyes be satiated.

After all, in the "Land of Dramas" seeing the performance is this unique break the cognitive boundaries, so that the power of theater on the mind undeclared war. Here, you can experience what is called "Life is like a drama, drama is like life".

The most significant part of the production team's craftsmanship is the chair array, where the audience seats extend from the ground to the wall, breaking the boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional. When visitors are seated, they have two identities: actor and audience.

"Land of Dramas" includes drama, emotions, life, and civilization, all of which are related to the word Henan. It covers the illusion, the illusion of history provided by the ancient dynasties. It does not leave the city, you can feel the strong atmosphere of life in it, but you will not find that it has slowly taken control of your heart.

Henan, with its rich culture of the Spring and Autumn Period. A history of Henan, half of the history of China, Tang's Luoyang, Song's Kaifeng. The glorious history renders the past Henan, and today, Henan still continues to be glorious.