Premiering on August 6 on China's micro-drama platform Hongguo and social media platform Douyin, both under Douyin Group, the AI animated series Cang Hai Gui Xu, drawing on the thousand-year maritime civilization in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has become a big hit.
The series, adapted from a local literary work, has 30 episodes with each running for approximately two minutes. It takes viewers on a journey where marine themes intertwine with fantasy storytelling.
So far, it has garnered more than 5.4 million views on Douyin, ranking fifth in the platform's popular short-drama chart under the male-duo category. It has also received sustained attention from major Chinese media outlets, with related coverage attracting more than 1.4 million views.
According to its director Fu Weifeng, the production team used Guangxi's real landscapes as the foundation for the series. The team artistically reinterpreted the real-world locations and imagery materials using AI, combining marine issues with fantasy narratives.
The team also developed a dedicated database of Guangxi cultural elements to support AI-assisted production. More than 50 representative intangible cultural heritage items and local landmarks were converted into precise labels recognizable by AI systems. This enabled cultural elements from Guangxi to be naturally integrated into the storyline.
Beyond its cultural and ecological themes, the series offers a new approach to adapting local literary works for the screen.
Zeng Pan, deputy editor-in-chief of Southern Cultural Forum, said the adaptation of literary works for the screen using AI technology offers fresh inspiration and new perspectives to contemporary literature.
He noted that AI-animated productions could help overcome barriers in adapting local literary works by reducing costs and improving production efficiency, providing a promising example of how works by Guangxi writers can be adapted across media in a cost-effective, efficient and high-quality manner.
Wan Xingwei, general manager of Guangxi Film Group, said the group would establish a regular cooperation mechanism with the Guangxi Writers Association to connect literary creation with AI-assisted film and television production across the entire industrial chain.
The initiative aims to build an integrated industry ecosystem spanning literary incubation, AI-powered content production and international commercialization, said Wan.
Co-produced by organizations including the Qingxiu District Converged Media Center and Guangxi Film Group, the series is seeking to enter the ASEAN market through the China-ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Collaborative Innovation Center. (Edited by Li Xueqing with Xinhua Silk Road, lixueqing@xinhua.org)
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