"Every time I stop in Jining on a business trip, I would come here and have a short rest with a couple of drinks, leaving the trouble and fatigue of work behind," said Wang Teng, a frequent traveler to Huanxibeili, which is a new-built cultural creation block in Jining.

The block in the city's downtown area has 12 creative shops, which are transformed from 12 disused courtyards. After restoration, the area has become a popular attraction that integrates entertainment, handicrafts experiences, catering, and culture.

A visitor poses for a photo at a landmark at Huanxibeili, a new-built cultural creation block in Jining, which is located in East China's Shandong province. [Photo/Dazhong News]

"My initial purpose is to provide a place that people can rest their minds in a bustling city," said Zhang Hang, a creator of the restoration project.

Zhang, a post-80s man who is interested in literature and art, was attracted by the 12 grassy courtyards when he first discovered them in the city's Guhuai subdistrict in September 2022.

"Jining is a city of rich culture. It is my dream to develop traditional culture into a new trend," Zhang said. He founded his workshop last year and posted his ideas of restoring theses grassy courtyards on social media platforms, which have attracted many young people to join his team. After three months of restoration, a cultural and creative block was transformed.

A view of Huanxibeili after restoration. [Photo/Jining News]

"Here not only has catering stores, but also has wine culture experience stores, cat-themed coffee houses, bookstores and handcraft making experience workshops,” said Li Lipeng, who is responsible for its operation.

According to Li, more than 1,200 businesses nationwide intend to settle on the block. "We delicately select the business formats that fit the style of the cultural block and 12 stores with different business formats were chosen based on that criteria," Li said.

The block opened to the public on Jan 14, and the increasing number of visitors prove that the transformation is a great success.

"It receives more than 1,000 visitors a day on average, and generates an average daily revenue of 10,000 yuan ($1,450.41), which greatly increased our confidence," Li said.

A creative bookstore at Huanxibeili. [Photo/Jining News]

"This area has a nice atmosphere. It's rare to find such a quiet, comfortable place in the downtown of a noisy city," said Wang Siqi, a post-2000s girl, who likes to come to the block and enjoy reading after a day's work.

Elements with local cultural flavors can be seen everywhere, such as clay pots, antique tiles and bamboo hats.

"When I'm free, I like to ride my bike into villages for inspiration and collect old objects for decorating," the project's designer Lin Jie said. He believes that old objects are simple and beautiful, and can directly reflect the cultural features of a place.

The block becomes popular among visitors in Jining. [Photo/Dazhong News]

Jining, a culturally-rich city in East China's Shandong province, has paid much attention to promoting the creative use and transformation of its traditional culture.

More efforts are expected to be made to promote the integration of excellent traditional culture with new ideas, new needs and new technologies, local officials said. Young entrepreneurs can get more funding and policy support to help promote the city's development in the future.