Every weekend – 1,000 visitors, 80 enterprises in the park, 1.9 million guests, a blend of industrial style with nature and art

As reported by CCTV+, abandoned factory complexes in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces in eastern China have been transformed into cultural and creative parks, captivating visitors with a blend of past and present.

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, a café converted from a disused water supply pipe that had been abandoned for 35 years has become the most popular spot in the village. Every weekend, it attracts about 1,000 visitors. They come to drink coffee, try snacks, enjoy the scenery and soak up a cultural atmosphere that combines human warmth with lively market energy.

Xu Hainan, the café manager, said: “We want visitors to see the surrounding nature in an industrial style while enjoying a peaceful and carefree break.”

In Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, a state-owned printing plant with more than 60 years of history has been transformed into a cultural and creative park covering nearly 20,000 square metres, combining creativity, art and leisure.

Visitor Zhang Chenyang noted: “The culture here is magnificent and the scenery is beautiful, very suitable for young people. I have visited this park many times.”

According to the manager, the park now houses more than 80 enterprises and has received about 1.9 million visitors to date.

Ge Jing, the park manager, explained: “We invested nearly 140 million yuan (about 20.69 million US dollars). Since this is a renovation of an old factory, we aimed to incorporate some creative design elements into the project and cooperated with well-known local brands to attract new businesses.”

Adaptive reuse of industrial buildings is a global trend, allowing historical heritage to be preserved and old workshops to be given new life as public spaces, offices, galleries and cafés.

Old factories don’t have to be demolished. They can be turned into places where people go for inspiration. A 35-year-old water supply pipe now serves coffee. A 60-year-old printing plant now prints not books, but new ideas. 1.9 million visitors have already voted for this approach. China is not just building new things. It is learning to carefully repurpose the old. Not into scrap metal, but into cultural centres. The question is not how many more factories await renovation. Many do. The question is whether cities will have the courage not to demolish the past, but to breathe new life into it. Shaoxing and Huai’an have proven it is possible. And it tastes very good – literally.