According to the Culture, Media, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Shenzhen, the Shenzhen new Cultural Center—currently the cultural center with the largest single-building floor area in China—is expected to be fully completed in July this year, with trial operations scheduled to begin in September, when it will officially open to the public.

Photo from WeChat official account: Shenzhen Longhua

Located on Minzhi Avenue in Longhua District, the Shenzhen new Cultural Center has a total floor area of approximately 83,300 square meters. The center build up with seven floors above ground and two basement level, and represents a total investment of RMB 1.265 billion. As Shenzhen's new cultural landmark, it is not only massive in scale, but also a comprehensive cultural service complex designed for all age groups and a full range of scenarios.

Guided by the principles of "public welfare at the core, universal access as the foundation, and service as the focus", the new center has created an integrated ecosystem of "seven major spaces + three categories of services". Each of the seven functional spaces features distinctive offerings to meet the city's diverse cultural needs.

Photo from WeChat official account: Shenzhen Longhua

01.Performance Space

02.Training Space

The training space comprises 29 classrooms, enabling courses in dance, arts, calligraphy, Chinese classics studies, instrumental music, vocal music, tie-dyeing, ceramics, coffee, tea arts and incense arts, flower arrangement, photography, and other arts and lifestyle-aesthetics programs.

03.Exhibition Space

The exhibition space includes a "Blank" gallery on Basement Level 1, four exhibition halls on Level 4 (a modular/convertible exhibition hall, an art exhibition hall, and a digital exhibition hall for arts, calligraphy, and photography—four halls in total). On Level 6, an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) exhibition hall, public display areas, and an artifact storage zone.

04.Library and Reading Space

The library and reading space offers functions such as reading, self-study, and café.

05.Creation Space

The creation space includes six expert studios, two cultural and creative spaces, as well as recording studios, video studios, and editing rooms.

06.Open Plaza Space

The open plaza space features outdoor areas such as a Traditional Culture Plaza, a Community Culture Plaza, a Youth Plaza, an Arts Exhibition Plaza, and a rooftop garden.

07.Cultural Support Facilities

The cultural support facilities include 11 commercial units. Some of these areas are designed to be open to the public 24 hours a day.

In terms of its service system, the new center will connect more deeply with residents's cultural lives through three key approaches:

Basic Public Cultural Services: it will continue to plan and deliver city-level public cultural programs, offer a wide range of public-interest art training, exhibitions, and lectures, support artistic creation and the cultivation of local talent, coordinate cultural volunteer services, and advance smart (digital) development so that high-quality cultural resources can delivery residents more directly.

Inclusive (Non-Basic) Public Cultural Services: working together with high-quality social organizations and partners, it will provide more premium and innovative inclusive services, including specialized art training, study tours and educational programs, themed exhibitions, cultural and creative product development, and immersive digital experiences.

Auxiliary Public Cultural Services: it will introduce and nurture a variety of cultural leisure businesses and formats—such as cultural and creative shops, studios, galleries, cafés, and bookstores—while integrating indoor and outdoor plazas and landscape spaces to provide convenient services including dining, device charging, parking, and cultural/creative consumption, ensuring a connection between cultural experiences and everyday life.

Photo from WeChat official account: Shenzhen Longhua

The Shenzhen new Cultural Center is expected to welcome its first group of visitors in September this year. Taking shape as a "cultural living room of Shenzhen", it will open its doors to every resident and visitor. Let's look forward together to its official debut!