Yixian Xiuli Cinema Village

Anhui

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Xiuli, which opened in 2007, is a collection of 100-plus historic structures from around Yixian County that were left in ruins because their owners couldn't afford to maintain them. Here they've been restored and given new life, with art deco touches adding extra cachet. What could be a tourist trap is actually an arrestingly beautiful, if artificial, village, curated with a film-maker's eye (it's the pet project of film producer and frequent Zhang Yimou collaborator Zhang Zhenyan).

If it looks like a film set that's because some of the buildings have appeared in films. Classic Chinese films screen daily in one of the old halls, repurposed into a cinema. Xiuli also runs artist-in-residence programs and holds exhibitions in some of the halls. The village is 3.5km from Pingshan, just off Rte 218.

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