ZHOUSHAN, China, July 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In March this year, The Lighthouse, an AI animated short film inspired by the Hua’ao Lighthouse in Shengsi, Zhoushan, was released. Through multi-channel distribution via People’s Daily, CGTN’s Russian-language channel, China-Arab TV and overseas social media platforms, the film presented the distinctive cultural depth and fresh development profile of the East China Sea islands to global audiences, becoming a vivid vehicle for cultural exchange between China and the world.
Hua’ao Lighthouse
The prototype of the short film, Hua’ao Lighthouse, stands in Hua’ao Township, Shengsi County. Built and put into operation in 1870, it is known as the “No. 1 Lighthouse of the Far East” and serves as a core navigational beacon on the route from the Yangtze River Estuary to the Pacific Ocean. Designed under the direction of British engineer David Marr Henderson, the lighthouse bears witness to modern maritime exchanges between China and the world. It was included in the World List of Historic Lighthouses in 1997 and designated a major cultural heritage site protected at the national level in 2001. To this day, it continues to guide vessels at sea. Over the past century, the lighthouse has watched over the shipping lanes, while generations of keepers have remained on the isolated island, nurturing an island spirit defined by dedication and responsibility and forming the core of local maritime culture.
Drawing on Zhoushan’s “Overseas Archives Return Home” cultural initiative, Shengsi County hosted the “Archives Return Home: Journey of Return for David Marr Henderson’s Hua’ao Lighthouse Design Manuscripts” in November 2025, completing a civilizational dialogue spanning more than 150 years. Henderson’s great-granddaughter traveled from the United Kingdom to Hua’ao Island and donated copies of the family’s treasured original lighthouse design manuscripts to Shengsi free of charge. The historical materials provide a complete record of the lighthouse’s construction techniques, filling gaps in regional marine archives and maritime history research, while offering a vivid example of maritime civilizational exchange and mutual learning under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Archives Return Home: Donation Ceremony for David Marr Henderson’s Hua’ao Lighthouse Design Manuscripts
A profound historical legacy lays the foundation, while romantic cultural tourism empowers island revitalization. Anchoring itself in the development positioning of an “island of love,” Hua’ao Township has deeply integrated lighthouse culture with romantic elements. Eight distinctive scenes have been launched in succession, including the “Perfect Match” wedding hall, the lighthouse-and-pier green space, and a matrix of love museums, creating an island romance landscape where flowers bloom through three seasons and greenery appears at every turn. As Zhejiang’s first island-based outdoor marriage registration and certification base, Hua’ao has innovated a “marriage registration + island cultural tourism” model, making marriage registration available to couples from across China. During this year’s May 20 celebrations, 67 couples from across the country arrived on the island and held three Chinese- and Western-style collective weddings under the witness of azure seas, blue skies, and the century-old lighthouse, greatly enhancing the domestic and international profile of the “Island of Love.”
Hua’ao May 20 Collective Wedding
Every year, Hua’ao Township hosts annual events such as May 20 collective weddings and Qixi romantic celebrations, attracting couples and visitors from across the country for wedding photography and island vacations. Riding the momentum of cultural and tourism popularity, the township has accelerated business-format upgrading and vigorously developed its “sweet economy.” Scattered guesthouses have been upgraded into boutique clusters, while new offerings such as Lighthouse Tea & Coffee and Xiyu Nature Concept Space have taken root. Building on its specialized wedding photography venues and local cultural-and-creative offerings, Hua’ao has created an integrated ecosystem that bundles marriage registration, wedding ceremonies, travel photography, vacation stays, and creative design. This strategy is shifting the island’s tourism from mere sightseeing toward a fully immersive experiential model.
Culture empowers industry, industry benefits livelihoods, and the lighthouse heritage and romance economy are working in both directions to open a distinctive path toward island common prosperity. By the end of 2025, a total of 331 couples from 29 provincial-level regions across China had traveled to the island to register their marriages, directly driving tourism-related output value beyond 60 million yuan. Over the year, the township received 68,600 domestic and international visitors, and its total tourism output value reached 138.05 million yuan. The continued expansion of the cultural and tourism industry has encouraged young people to return home for entrepreneurship, while guesthouses, creative cultural products, island services, and other diversified channels have broadened pathways for local residents to increase their incomes. The village collective economy has grown steadily, enabling residents to share in the dividends of development.
From the century-old lighthouse watching over the open sea and the lighthouse keeper spirit passed down through generations, to the return of design manuscripts across oceans and the continuation of dialogue between Chinese and foreign civilizations, and onward to the breakout success of a romance-themed cultural tourism IP and the role of the sweet industry in advancing common prosperity, Hua’ao Island is drawing on its local maritime resources to pursue innovative development while carrying forward its cultural heritage. By enriching residents through distinctive cultural tourism, this small island in the East China Sea carries memories of more than a century of maritime exchange between China and the world, while surging with the contemporary vitality of rural revitalization and common prosperity.
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