Recently, looking southward from Xiamen North Station for several hundred meters, a huge elliptical silver sphere shines brilliantly under the sunlight—what could it be?
Out of curiosity, the author headed to the vicinity of Xiamen North Station, following the giant sphere, and finally found it 400 meters south of the station, at the junction of Tianshui Road and Haixiang Avenue, where the true face of the “big sphere” was revealed. Hidden among a cluster of buildings in the architectural style of Tan Kah Kee, along with the surrounding natural environment, it forms a unique and striking scenic view. It turns out that this is the main structure of the under-construction Xiamen Old Courtyard Scenic Area—the Shenyou Huaxia Grand Theater.
5,585 “bolt spheres” connect the “world’s largest dome”
According to Sun Peishan, head of the Xiamen Old Courtyard Folk Culture and Scenic Park (hereinafter referred to as the “Old Courtyard Scenic Area”), this ongoing “elliptical large sphere”—the Shenyou Huaxia Grand Theater—has been positioned since its initial investment and construction as the world’s highest-specification and most culturally distinctive indoor performance venue. Its planning has created three world records: first, the “world’s largest theater” in terms of span—the elliptical theater dome boasts a maximum span of 150 meters, unmatched by any similar venue; second, the “world’s highest theater”: the dome’s vertical height from the ground reaches 50 meters, equivalent to a 17-story building, surpassing the National Centre for the Performing Arts, making it truly stand out; third, the world’s first indoor 360-degree live-action stage and 360-degree rotating moving grandstand, completely breaking the traditional one-stage-one-audience performance model and creating a new viewing experience in the global entertainment industry.
According to the engineering director of the Xiamen Old Courtyard Scenic Area, the Shenyou Huaxia Grand Theater is constructed with steel, and the dome uses as many as 5,585 “bolt spheres” as connection points for the steel structural lines. The massive steel structure supports the “world’s largest dome,” while the exterior surface of the theater is composed of tens of thousands of silver-gray tungsten panels.
“Due to the short construction period, large span, high temperatures, high-altitude work, and the high demands of professional performances, the construction of the dome project is quite challenging. To build this project, almost all of Fujian Province’s only few 350-ton truck cranes and the single 500-ton truck crane are currently working intensively on this site.” The completion of the Shenyou Huaxia Grand Theater will set new records for the scale and technical standards of world theaters and will become a new benchmark in the industry.
It is reported that the Shenyou Huaxia Grand Theater is the main project of the Xiamen Old Courtyard Scenic Area and will officially open to the public on July 19. At that time, it will present the day-and-night performance of the groundbreaking masterpiece—the world’s first 360-degree large-scale indoor landscape live-action show, the “Legendary Minnan” Show, staging the unique historical and cultural heritage of southern Fujian within the stunning scenes created by modern high technology.
What’s so amazing about the “Legendary Minnan”? Top 10 wonders
The groundbreaking “Legendary Minnan” Show, as the soul of the Old Courtyard Scenic Area, is an internationally leading 360-degree large-scale indoor live-action performance and one of the newest representatives of global show culture. Whether in terms of theater scale, equipment investment, technological content, or the three-dimensional cross-performance form covering land, water, and air, it stands as a leader in the entertainment industry, unparalleled.
Wonder 1: A brand-new viewing experience. The world’s first indoor circular live-action stage, a 360-degree rotating moving grandstand, and a super-wide 270-degree viewing angle allow audiences to enjoy performances on all sides of the stage while on the “grand wheel,” making for a novel and truly unique experience.
Wonder 2: Creating the world’s top-tier performance. The investment in stage equipment is five times that of Las Vegas shows, featuring 28 invention patents and utility model patents. The spectacular level of the performance will rival world-class high-end shows, completely shattering the myth of Las Vegas entertainment.
Wonder 3: The world’s highest dive. A 30-meter-high, 9-story platform special diving stunt sets a new record for high-altitude diving performances in the entertainment industry, and audiences at the Old Courtyard will witness the birth of this new record.
Wonder 4: The ultimate collision of light and shadow. The theater houses over 3,000 square meters of LED screens, a rarity in the global entertainment industry, perfectly blending with modern lighting and sound automation to achieve a seamless fusion of reality and illusion.
Wonder 5: Special effects that surpass Hollywood. A massive volcano erupting with lava rises nearly 20 meters from the bottom of the water, a gigantic golden dragon soars 17 meters into the air from the water in just 20 seconds, 2,000 tons of water cascades down from 20 meters high, and a giant dynamic mechanical white egret spreads its 9-meter wings and flies toward the audience, lifelike and thrilling.
Wonder 6: The first performance show entirely conceived, written, and produced by Chinese creatives. The creative team consists of 46 members, the production team 120, and the cast and crew nearly 500.
Wonder 7: Interaction in every scene, thrills everywhere. Throughout the performance, audiences are not only immersed in the experience, but numerous interactive segments also provide opportunities for participation, greatly enhancing the interactive experience.
Wonder 8: A perfect blend of culture and performance. It vividly portrays the touching legends of southern Fujian and interprets the local customs and the epic journey of the Chinese people chasing their dreams.
Wonder 9: Top-tier sound effects tailored by master sound designers. Invited by the Spring Festival Gala music director as the music producer, with professional sound engineers fine-tuning the audio, the combination achieves a stunning audiovisual impact.
Wonder 10: Filling the huge gap in cultural and performance tourism in Xiamen. It combines perfectly with Xiamen’s mountain and sea tourism culture to create a new cultural landmark for Jimei and even the city of Xiamen.
The “Legendary Minnan” presents the latest interpretation of folk culture in a unique way. It not only inherits the essence of the culture between Fujian and Taiwan but also adopts the globally popular “show” performance format. By integrating high-tech stage machinery, sound, light, electricity, and live settings, supplemented by a custom-made 360-degree rotatable and forward-backward moving grandstand, it creates an ultimate artistic and technological presentation—making machinery dance, infusing technology into performances, fully showcasing the expressive power of the theater’s stage hardware, and demonstrating an astonishing charm never before seen in entertainment performances.
It is reported that the Old Courtyard Scenic Area will officially open to the public at the end of July, and the “Legendary Minnan” will also make its stunning debut then.
And on the eve of this stunning debut, the Xiamen Old Courtyard Scenic Area has specially launched a themed advertising slogan contest: “If you’ve got talent, come on—trade one sentence for an iPhone 6!” Win a grand iPhone 6 prize—every word counts, so come and take the challenge now. Literary masters, what are you waiting for?
I. Activity Period: May 16, 2015 – July 19, 2015
II. Participation Method:
1. Scan the QR code or search for “xmlaoyuanzi” and follow the “Xiamen Old Courtyard Folk Custom Garden” official account;
2. Click on “Advertisement Slogan Collection” under the “Interactive Offers” section in the menu of the “Xiamen Old Courtyard Folk Custom Garden” official account, or send the message “Advertisement Slogan” to the official account to receive a reply for the activity;
3. Fill in the required information “Name + Contact Number + Slogan + Explanation” and submit to join the activity.
III. Activity prizes and other details can be found by scanning the QR code.