The CCTV Wuxi Movie & TV Base is a gigantic complex of sets, where over 1000 movies and TV episodes have been filmed every year since it opened in 1987. Over 2 million tourists a year are estimated to visit these sets.
The sets are split into three areas: Tang Dynasty City, Three Kingdoms City and Water Margin City each of which will be familiar to countless film-fans and each of which concentrates on a different time period.
The Three Kingdoms City (Sanguo Cheng)
Three Kingdoms City is located in the southwest suburb of Wuxi City and was built to film the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: a historical drama covering the lives of three royal families in the Han Dynasty, based on one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
The park covers 35 hectares, and encompasses palaces, temples, army encampments and impressive towers, each built following traditional Han architectural rules. Three Kingdoms City draws fans of the series who come to see ''the spot where the King of Shu married Sun Shangxiang'' or ''the Chanting Hall where Dowager Wu met her daughter's future husband''but visitors who have not seen the series will enjoy wandering the pretty gardens and villages regardless of their place in TV history.
Han Dynasty bullfighting and horse-riding is demonstrated in a large arena where the series' three Heroes (Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei) race each other every day. Duels are also performed like clockwork at 10am, when visitors are encouraged to dress up in Han costume and become part of the crowd.
Shuihu (Water Margin) Town (Shuihu Cheng)
Shuihu Town is a 36 hectare TV film set, built around Taihu Lake. It was built by CCTV as a place to film the long running TV series the ''Story of Shuihu'' (Story of the Water Margin). Water Margin is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature and detailing the supposedly true and complicated lives of 108 outlaws during the mid Song Dynasty .
The massive set comprises winding corridors and waterside pavilions connected by pretty and secluded paths, leading to halls and houses, markets and a waterside area. Performances based on stories from the Water Margin Story are staged every day.
Tang Dynasty City (Tang Cheng)
Tang Dynasty City covers an area of 15 hectares and has five main sections: Tang Palace, Tang Street, Royal Garden, Chenxiang Pavilion and Huaqing Pool.
Visitors can experience shops, restaurants and temples built in Tang Dynasty architectural styles and meet a variety of actors styled in authentic Tang costumes who roam about the park adding a touch of Disneyland to the Park.
Tang Palace is a copy of the Hanyuan Hall in Da Ming Palace in Chang'an, which was where emperors held court & significant ceremonies were held. There is a big water wheel beside the Chenxiang Pavilion which is styled after one in the Tang Dynasty Summer Resort. The water wheel measures 18meters in diameter and weighs 10 tons. It is effectively a gigantic air conditioning unit which raises water from the river to be sprinkled on adjacent roofs to make rooms underneath pleasantly cool providing a glimpse of the luxurious lives Chinese emperors led. An expansive music and dance epic "Royal Concubine Bathing" is performed in the Huaqing Pool daily.
Admission: Three Kingdoms City and Shuihu Town: RMB 60 for adult, RMB 30 for student.
Tang Dynasty City: RMB 32 for adult, RMB 16 for student
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