A mixture of old factory buildings with culture creation industry seems conflicting yet particularly harmonious at the same time. Such a combination presents a unique sight in Gongshu.

    Along Tongyi Road in Gongshu District of Hangzhou, LOFT49 is a unique existence.

    Trendy and spacious photo studios, oil painting and pottery classrooms, first-class design companies and furniture creative spaces, are all hidden in the old industrial building. Huge black piping, mottled heavy iron gates, rusty giant machines are the standard furnishing of the office area.

    On the south end of the Grand Canal, like LOFT49, outright transformation has taken place in those huge monolith from last century’s industrial era--they are now cultural creative parks, exuberant with innovative energy.

    LOFT49, the first cultural creative park by the Grand Canal, appeared in 2002. It was the site of nylon factory of Hangzhou Blue Peacock Chemical Fiber Co. After its relocation, the abandoned old factory buildings drew the attention of several designers. Retaining the appearance and layout of the building, they redesigned and repackaged its interior decorations. They set up a creation workshop, and invited more than 20 specialized teams in fine arts, architecture and photography to join them.

    The former factories, once the symbol of Canal Culture and Hangzhou’s economic pole, became a venue of creativity and imagination.

    For 11 years, LOFT49, as the third most influencing cultural creation park at home and abroad, after Beijing and Shanghai, has become a pioneer in Hangzhou’s culture creative industry park development and a“magnet” in the field of culture creation. Soon, the province has seen a mushrooming of cultural creation enterprises and parks.

    So, historical plant buildings and canal-loving young creative teams combine to make the most beautiful scenery here. Seeds of cultural creativity continue to germinate, sprout and bloom. At present, 13 cultural creative parks are stringed together to form the Canal World Culture Creation Garden. In 2015, the sector yielded 22.1 billion yuan revenue in Gongshu District.