Filming Locations
A reception hall sets the tone for a family gathering. A winding corridor allows two characters to cross paths. A modest courtyard reveals the daily life behind a grand household.
In our previous article, we explored how the team behind Against The Current (《兰香如故》) spent eight months creating a Jiangnan-style garden in Hengdian. Here, we look more closely at the spaces within it.
Together, these thirteen settings offer a varied landscape for filming, with architecture and layouts that support everything from formal ceremonies to intimate conversations.
Zhichun Hall | 知春馆
One of the garden’s principal settings, Zhichun Hall comprises a central reception hall with rooms to the east and west. Behind it, winding covered walkways connect pavilions and planted spaces, with twin ponds and a curved bridge adding depth to the landscape.
The layout reveals a new view at each turn. It lends itself to literary gatherings and garden banquets, while smaller corners provide settings for chance encounters, private conversations or a game of Chinese chess.
Huaqiong Courtyard | 华琼苑
An elegant main room overlooks a small front garden filled with seasonal flowers, ornamental rocks and moss. Winding paths and delicate shadows give the courtyard an intimate atmosphere.
It can serve as a young noblewoman’s residence or a scholar’s study, with a setting suited to reading, embroidery and quiet conversations among the flowers.
Guanshan Tower | 观山楼
Guanshan Tower is a two-storey building with a spacious ground-floor hall and a projecting upper terrace. A pavilion stands beside it, while the broad courtyard and raised platform in front provide room for larger groups and varied camera positions.
Its scale supports formal celebrations, terrace banquets and performances. The elevated outlook also lends itself to reflective scenes, with a character looking out across the garden.
Yiming Pavilion | 一鸣亭
The estate’s largest area centres on Yiming Pavilion, designed with inspiration from classical Chinese paintings. Gardens surround the pavilion, a lotus pond opens up the view, and the pleasure boat Bu Xi Zhou rests at the water’s edge.
The setting is well suited to elegant gatherings, poetry exchanges and tea by the water. Its generous scale offers opportunities to establish the wealth and refinement of a prominent household.
Rongzhang Residence | 榕章居
A formal gateway marks the entrance to Rongzhang Residence. Within, a spreading banyan tree anchors the courtyard, flanked by two symmetrically arranged principal buildings.
The ordered layout creates a setting for family councils and moments of household authority. Beneath the tree, the atmosphere can become more personal, accommodating conversations between grandparents and grandchildren or an evening shared in the shade.
Sanjue Hall | 三觉堂
Occupying the highest position within the estate, Sanjue Hall consists of two connected study buildings with formal proportions, sweeping eaves and traditional bracket details.
Its commanding presence suits a scholarly retreat, an ancestral hall or a chamber for important deliberations. The elevated views also provide a setting for solitary reflection or a quiet scene beneath the night sky.
Chang Garden | 畅园
Chang Garden is a secluded garden within the larger landscape. Broad flowerbeds form its centrepiece, accompanied by a mature tree and a simple cottage.
Its informal character makes it suitable for a recluse’s dwelling, a peaceful walk or a reunion away from the main household. The cottage and shaded ground offer a gentler, more private atmosphere than the estate’s formal halls.
Garden Side Gate | 花园角门
Located in a quieter corner, the side gate combines open ground with winding approaches. Its layout creates opportunities for characters to appear, disappear or change direction.
It is particularly suited to scenes of discreet meetings, hurried departures, pursuit and concealment. The surrounding space allows flexibility in staging movement and building suspense.
Side Quarters | 偏房
Two modest, low buildings and a separate kitchen enclose a small courtyard. Laundry, bedding and a few plants give the space an everyday domestic character.
It lends itself to servants’ conversations, cooking, shared chores and family moments. Its unassuming appearance can also support stories involving a temporary refuge or a concealed identity.
Tea and Water House | 水房
This small service building is used for preparing tea and fetching water. Simple furnishings, a well to one side and greenery around the windows and eaves create a practical setting softened by planting.
Daily tasks provide natural opportunities for dialogue: a conversation while brewing tea, a brief rest beneath the eaves or a private exchange beside the well.
Wenchang Street, Section One | 文昌街一街
A stone-paved street runs between white walls and grey-tiled roofs, with homes and shops lining the route.
The setting can accommodate market trading, street performances and festival scenes. With fewer people and a different lighting scheme, it can also become the backdrop for an evening walk, a farewell or a distant glance from a window.
Wenchang Street, Section Two | 文昌街二街
Two neighbouring homes occupy a quieter part of the lanes. Each includes living quarters, a kitchen and a small front courtyard, with openings connecting the outdoor spaces.
Vegetable plots, bamboo fences and climbing plants establish a modest domestic atmosphere. The setting suits family meals, neighbourly visits, children at play and the rhythms of everyday work.
Rockery and Grotto | 假山
Layered rock formations conceal a deep grotto, adding enclosed passages and hidden corners to the garden.
These spaces introduce a different mood from the open courtyards. They can support exploration, unexpected encounters and scenes in which a winding route or obstructed view becomes part of the storytelling.
One Garden, Many Ways to Tell a Story
The garden’s versatility comes from the relationships between these spaces.
A scene can move from the authority of a reception hall to the privacy of a small courtyard. A busy street can lead into a quiet home. Open water and elevated terraces can give way to narrow passages and concealed corners.
For production teams, this variety offers room to develop different households and dramatic situations within a connected setting. For audiences, it helps create a screen world that feels inhabited, with both ceremonial spaces and the places where ordinary life continues.
To discuss filming requirements or enquire about current visiting arrangements, contact the Hengdian FTS team.