Promotional material of Sanxingdui: Future Apocalypse Photo: Courtesy of the Bona Film Group

Free of complex storylines, exaggerated romances, melodramatic plot twists and revenge stories based on absurd experiences, a fresh breeze has blown into Chinese micro-drama industry, bringing diverse and refined themes based on historical figures and cultural heritage. The trend can be seen in a recent list of recommended micro dramas for a creative project.The latest batch of 55 recommended micro dramas were selected as part of the project titled "Have a tour following micro dramas." They cover a variety of themes such as peaceful rural scenery, conservation of intangible cultural heritage and ecological development.

Each episode of these micro dramas is about 10 minutes or shorter. For example, a work that centers around giant pandas in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, presents the fictional story of a wild panda exchanging souls with an airline stewardess, showing the harmonious relations between human and wild life. Another series of 30 episodes depicts characters from the painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a Chinese masterpiece from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), walk out of the painting and go on adventures at Hengdian World Studios, a major film production base in East China's Zhejiang Province.

Integrating tourist attractions or cultural elements into the narrative of these micro dramas entices audiences to visit and engage with these locations firsthand. A report focused on researching micro dramas' impact on tourism published by the China Advertising Association said that 81 percent of audiences polled indicated they plan to travel within the next six months.

Experts stressed that, as a trendy form of internet entertainment product, micro dramas can empower the development of tourism in different places and further promote local tourist attractions and cultural heritage to a larger audience.

"The 'short but beautiful' qualities of these micro dramas have distinct advantages when it comes to marketing cultural tourism. They can present a grand design within a limited scope and vividly showcase local traditions and customs through episodes that are just a minute long," Zhang Peng, a film researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times.

He noted that fast paced micro dramas are closely intertwined with the viewing habits of today's audience, as they are more easily able to be enjoyed during one's spare time. The vast viewer numbers have stimulated storytellers to find greater means to seek innovative expression.

The latest statistics indicate the domestic market for micro dramas reached 37.39 billion yuan ($5.31 billion) in 2023, marking a sizable surge of 267.65 percent year-on-year, according to a forum held during the recently concluded 2nd Beijing Internet Audiovisual Arts Conference.

Besides policy support and guidance projects aimed at improving the creation of micro dramas, Zhang said that some cutting-edge technologies have also made their way into the emerging micro-drama industry, providing a good foundation for the development of micro dramas.

The total views for Sanxingdui: Future Apocalypse, the first AI generated short narrative series made in China, exceeded the 140 million mark on Chinese streaming and social media platforms when the first season of the series ended in July. The micro-drama entered the top five micro-drama chart on Chinese short video platform Douyin.

Besides well-known cultural relics from the Sanxingdui Ruins such as the Golden Mask and Bronze Standing Figure, the drama is also populated with imagined mythical creatures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, an ancient book of Chinese mythology.

The production team from Bona Film studios told the Global Times that they first generated pictures of the scenes and characters in the drama and then made these static images move through AI technology such as transformer and diffusion models and style transfer technology.

Flowers blooming within the walls of an enclosure can also spread their fragrance to the outside world. With help of advanced technology such as AI and creative ideas that refine content by drawing on local cultural characteristics, Zhang added that Chinese micro dramas with more diverse themes can attract a larger number of overseas viewers than shows featuring limited and repetitive plot like falling in love with a domineering rich man.