Tourists Star In Personal Microdramas In 'China's Hollywood'

Hengdian, China: Inside the ornate imperial chamber of a replica Chinese palace, tourists twist their faces in feigned anger and mimic the movements of a director as they star in their own personalised microdramas. Gao Saifei, a 19-year-old aspiring actor among the group, told AFP she travelled to Hengdian World Studios -- often referred to as "China's Hollywood" -- for the chance to act out a scene from a popular Chinese period drama. The sprawling studio in Zhejiang province, which includes a replica of Beijing's Forbidden City, has drawn visitors like Gao, who want the chance to act in short microdramas for social media. These mostly vertical soap opera-like series with episodes as short as 30 seconds have taken China by storm, with people across the country watching them on ByteDance-owned apps like Hongguo and Douyin.