If you drive from the city proper of Chongqing, through the Chongqing-Hunan section of Baotou-Maoming Expressway, and exit at the Nanchuan Toll Station, you will arrive at Dongjie 5 minutes later. Black bricks and tile-roofed houses, glass windows with lattice...all of these constitute a special block. It was an old and shabby area in Nanchuan District, but thanks to the introduction of cultural IPs, it has become a sought-after landmark attracting nearly 200,000 visitors during the May Day holiday.

A sought-after landmark of Nanchuan District

As China's first town carrying the memories of young people, the Dongjie project comprises six parts: a comprehensive service zone for culture, tourism, and business, a cultural exhibition and experience zone, a Mahua FunAge performance zone, a zone with historical streets and alleys, a parent-child outdoor education zone, and a nostalgia Jiefang Road business zone. In addition, there are some scenarios for the cultural experience, such as Family's Memory Hall and Cultural Creation Food Market.

Up the steps, tourists can visit the Family's, Memory Hall. The 16 theme rooms spread on the four floors incorporate a photo studio, a barbershop, a tailor's shop, etc., which exhibit the respective three most important things of the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s. Thus, visitors can understand how family lives went on during these periods.

Dongjie also has an exhibition hall for intangible cultural heritage, a square for Chinese herbal medicine, and others, allowing visitors to learn the diverse local cultures of Nanchuan while enjoying the "time travel."

Wang Zhengzhan, the head of the Dongjie project and General Manager of CYTS Lianjing Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd., thought its location is a vital charm to pool visitors. More than locals of Nanchuan, people living in surrounding districts and counties and even Guizhou also come to the scenic spot.

Wang noted that the project plans to create an immersive experience based on the teaching buildings there, for tourists to relive the campus days and for Dongjie to welcome richer cultural tourism business types.