the g20 opening gala “most memorable is hangzhou” began with a traditional chinese music piece the moonlight night on the flowery spring river on the evening of september 4th. the 50-minute symphony concert fused the appeal of west lake, the city of hangzhou, the south yangtze river delta region, the chinese outlook and cosmopolitanism. chief-director zhang yimou, while presenting to the world a feast of art comparable to the opening ceremony of 2008 beijing olympics, took impression wonders arts development co., ltd , a performing art company he had co-founded, to the next level.
the gala was developed on the basis of the impression west lake show and staged at the same venue. a result of over one year of artistic creation and rehearsals, the gala was intended to be “a good teller of china’s stories”, as in the words of mr. zhang yimou. it won acclaim from the government leaders, spectators and the worldwide television audience.
“mr. zhang proved himself again as a great master. he demonstrated to the world china’s cultural legacy and soft power. as such, he is set to create more stunning experiences for the audience,”said idg co-founder mr. xiong xiaoge, who was familiar with mr. zhang yimou.
idg capital and mr. zhang have cooperated in many successful projects over the years, including adaptation of turandot for staging at the bird's nest, film under the hawthorn tree, and the ongoing impression shows.
idg started to invest in impression wonders arts development co., ltd in march 2006. the impression series, created by impression wonders arts development co., ltd, spanned over tourism and up-scale performing, two fast-growing industries . according to the government’s 12th 5-year-plan, culture and art had become a pillar industry. therefore, the impression series emerged in a timely fashion to make the most of favorable policies and local resources. in 10 years’ time, impression wonders arts development co., ltd has launched the impression series (shows staged in natural settings) and encore series (immersive shows) , with a combined audience of 5.3 million and box office revenue of 1.1 billion yuan annually, gaining the reputation of the best brand in high-end performances and king in box office terms. the company’s shareholders included zhang yimou studio, idg, and yunfeng capital co-founded by jack ma and yu feng.
in 2016, the company was acquired by sanxiang co., ltd (stock code 000863). sanxiang has started to make a foray into the art and culture industry and plans to change the company name into “sanxiang impression co., ltd”.
