Giant Spider-Man installation went viral in Changning

Recently, the giant Spider-Man inflatable installation introduced by Jin Hongqiao Shopping Mall has quickly become a new internet sensation, creating a buzz which attract many visitors to take photos.

A giant inflatable Spider-Man is located in the outdoor plaza of Jinqiao Shopping Mall. The highly recognizable red and blue installation is presented in a dynamic pose supported by the ground. From some angles, the playful detail of the Spider-Man seemingly twisting his ankle and flipping outwards breaks away from the conventional serious image of a "superhero," bringing a lighthearted and humorous appeal. The newly added inflation device further enhances the interactive experience. The inflatable automatically deflates every Monday, and once the number of interactive check-ins by citizens reaches a certain threshold, it slowly inflates again and reopens for business.

Visitors who came specifically for the event held up their phones, adjusting the angles. Some crouched down to capture the image of Spider-Man alongside the mall's glass facade, while others stood on the steps with the staggered clouds as a backdrop for atmospheric photos. Many Marvel enthusiasts also came in groups, specially dressed in Spider-Man-themed clothing, and the scene was filled with lighthearted laughter.

As dusk settles and the city lights begin to twinkle, the giant Spider-Man inflatable model glows with a warm, soft light. Its striking red and blue color scheme stands out vividly against the night sky, complementing the surrounding mall lights. Every snapshot is a captivating nighttime scene, adding a touch of romantic superhero flair to the nightlife.

Located next to Loushanguan Road Station on Metro Line 2, Jin Hongqiao Shopping Mall is a distinctive "garden-style shopping center" in the Hongqiao Tianshan business district, boasting different landscapes in each season and natural greenery throughout the shopping area. The installation is entrance free and will remain open until September 16th.

From September 24th to 26th, Jin Hongqiao Shopping Mall will also host the fifth edition of "Neighbor Ah Jin's Weekend Bazaar," a "Harvest" themed market.

The event will feature seasonal harvest stalls brimming with autumn atmosphere, showcasing fresh autumn produce, agricultural goods, and seasonal flavors, allowing shoppers to immerse themselves in the joy of the autumn harvest, which also coincides with Jin Hongqiao Shopping Mall's 12th anniversary.

Customized courses offered for merchants at Tianshan Tea City to better greet foreign customers

The Tianshan Tea City in Changning District has quietly become a popular destination, attracting foreign tourists to experience Chinese tea culture in depth. However, with the increasing number of foreign customers, merchants are also facing more and more problems due to language barriers and communication difficulties. To address this issue, the Tianshan Road Subdistrict Federation of Trade Unions has brought customized foreign language courses to Tianshan Tea City to help merchants overcome communication barriers and truly let the aroma of tea spread to the world.

On a recent morning, a "Business Russian for Beginners" course, specially designed for tea industry professionals, started on time at Jingyuan Academy in Tianshan Tea City. Many tea merchants made time to attend the training.

The dozen or so tea merchants, like students back in class, imitated the pronunciation of Russian dialogues word by word, taking careful notes from time to time. 

Then, the teacher brought the most common pricing scenarios in tea sales into the classroom, starting with recognizing numbers and progressing to actual dialogues such as "How much is this tea?" and "150 yuan for 200 grams", allowing the tea merchants to master the pronunciation of Russian numbers and units of measurement in simulated trading scenarios.

Considering that most tea merchants are beginners with no prior Russian knowledge, the course is tailored to their business and practical needs, covering various scenarios in tea trading. 

"The teacher is really good, allowing students like us who have never been exposed to Russian before to pick up quickly," Ms. Wu, the owner of Shuxiangcaotang Tea Shop, admitted that when she first started learning, she was not very daring to speak, but now she can read aloud with the teacher in class. 

Tianshan Tea City opened in 2002, and its business scope covers tea, teaware, antiques and calligraphy, and tea culture communications.  With the rising trend of "China Travel", it has attracted numerous foreign tourists. 

To help Tianshan Tea City improve its international service capabilities and allow foreign tourists to better experience Chinese tea culture, the Tianshan Road Subdistrict Federation of Trade Unions conducted on-site visits to understand the needs of merchants and quickly coordinated with the Tianshan Tea City Party Branch to promote the implementation of foreign language classes as a practical project for "precise service to merchants."

A representative from the Tianshan Road Subdistrict Federation of Trade Unions stated that the Tianshan Tea City has now customized and opened business English, Korean, and Russian courses to meet the communication needs of merchants when receiving foreign customers. 

A foreign language volunteer service team composed of instructors provides continuous after-class tutoring to help consolidate classroom learning and assist tea city merchants in need to standardize foreign language labels and optimize bilingual shop signs, so that foreign guests can feel a strong "international atmosphere" from shop signs to product price tags, from greetings to daily communication when they enter the tea city.

In the future, the street-level trade union will dynamically adjust the course content and teaching schedule based on feedback. At the same time, it will launch more customized courses to meet the actual application needs of different industries, so that employees and businesses in the area can truly "learn and apply" the courses, and continuously enhance the "Employee Night Classroom" service brand.

Students from the University of New South Wales visited Changning to explore leading digital economy enterprises

On September 2, over 30 students from the University of New South Wales, Australia, visited leading digital economy enterprises in Changning District for an immersive experience. 

The group engaged in interactive discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence applications and the digital transformation of domestic brands, building a bridge for industrial exchange between China and Australia through cross-border dialogue.

The first stop on their trip was the office of Hi- Dolphin Technology Co Ltd, a company located in Changning, where students experienced firsthand the fully automated operation of the seventh-generation "COFE+ Intelligent Coffee Robot." When they saw the school emblem 3D-printed onto the creamy milk foam, exclamations of admiration rippled through the room.

At the event, Austin, a senior Chinese-American student, raised a question: How can one make a profit after purchasing a coffee robot? "After communicating with the company, I realized that it involves not only equipment operation but also a whole set of business operation systems, including promotion, marketing, and resource integration," Austin said.

He was impressed by the creativity of Chinese companies in integrating technology into daily consumption scenarios. "These kinds of intelligent service devices have broad application prospects in shopping malls, hospitals, universities, and other scenarios, and they have opened up new ideas for my entrepreneurial plans."

Leaving behind the hardcore science and technology innovation scenes, the students moved to the Shanghai Li-Ning Center to unlock the digital transformation secrets of this well known sports brand.

Oli Rodikova, a sophomore from Russia, said she had previously noticed the popularity of Chinese brands among international consumers and had always been curious about the underlying development logic.

At the end of the trip, the study group visited Chagee, a leading brand of new Chinese-style tea drinks, and had in-depth discussions with the company on topics such as empowering the value of the national trend economy, digital operation, and brand going global. The students expressed their admiration for the speed of globalization and the level of refined operation of new Chinese consumer brands.

As the organizer of the study tour, Bian Jun, President of the Sydney Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Australia, introduced that the Australian University Students' Study Tour of Shanghai Digital Economy Enterprises, launched in 2019, has conducted extensive exchanges with more than 300 locations in Shanghai, including enterprises, industrial parks, and universities.

“This year’s study tour has become significantly more international, with non-Chinese students accounting for over 50 percent of the total, and students from countries including Russia, India, and Malaysia, demonstrating a marked increase in diversity,” Bian noted.

The event has received support from the Changning Overseas Friendship Association, the District Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and the District Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, among others. Many students who participated in previous years have returned to the study tour as volunteers, while others have chosen to work or start businesses in China, continuing to engage in people-to-people exchanges between China and Australia, he noted.

Hardcore scientific and technological innovations showcased at grand finale of entrepreneurship competition

On September 4, the final of the "Maker Shanghai 2026" and the 11th "Maker China" Shanghai Small and Medium Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was held at the Ledong Hongqiao Sports Complex in Changning.

Leading science and technology enterprises from across the city competed on the stage for the final showdown.

This year's competition focuses on key tracks in strategic emerging industries, covering eight major areas: electronic information, high-end equipment, advanced materials, life and health, artificial intelligence, digital economy (metaverse), new energy and green low-carbon, and fashion consumption (smart terminals). It aims to accelerate the "critical leap" from laboratory to industrialization of cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements.

After multiple rounds of online preliminary and offline semi-final selections, 20 enterprise projects and 10 startup projects ultimately stood out and reached the final stage.

Compared to previous competitions, this year's competition significantly enhanced its focus on cutting-edge technologies, showcasing a number of original projects that possess key core technologies and independent intellectual property rights.

At the finals, the top 30 projects presented their work in a high-level roadshow, highlighting technological breakthroughs in a number of high-end equipment fields as well as sectors such as vehicle-to-energy batteries, brain-like intelligence, and silicon-based anode materials. This comprehensive display of the core strengths of Shanghai's innovative enterprises in tackling key challenges was evident.

Expert judges from diverse industry sectors, including leading technology companies, industry associations, and investment institutions, conducted professional reviews and verifications across multiple dimensions, including technological innovation, business models, and market prospects.

Organizers of the competition also provided in-depth services such as project roadshow guidance and precise industry-finance matchmaking, promoting efficient collaboration among policy, capital, platforms, and talent, and helping to overcome obstacles to the industrialization of innovative achievements.

With its AI-powered smart unmanned catering end-to-end solution, Shanghai Shiwei Lingchu Technology Development Co, Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Changning-based Xixiang Technology, successfully entered the top 30 during the finals.

Zhai Zhigang, manager of the company's asset management department, said:"The judges provided many practical development suggestions, reminding us to further strengthen the technological empowerment of home catering scenarios and refine product precision, pointing the way for subsequent iterations and optimizations of the project." In Zhai's view, this competition further enhanced its market exposure.

He added that Changning District's science and technology innovation support policies in areas such as industry application scenario matching, special funds applications, project application, and technology transformation provide tangible development support for AI-enabled real economy enterprises.

The outstanding teams that emerge from this final competition will represent Shanghai in the "Maker China" national competition, vying for a place among the top 500 enterprises and top 300 entrepreneurs, and competing for the top 50 and top 10 honors nationwide.

This competition was jointly hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization and the Changning District People's Government, and jointly organized by the Shanghai Municipal Office for Promoting the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the Shanghai Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Development Service Center, and the Changning District Science and Technology Commission.

The pop-up mob at Hongqiao Nanfeng City brimming with artistic atmosphere

The Place(Hongqiao Nanfeng City)  

On the evening of September 4th, the 2026 "Most Hongqiao" Carnival Artist Co-creation Series, hosted by the Changning District Culture and Tourism Management Affairs Center, was held at the Place(Hongqiao Nanfeng City).

The event allowed the public and tourists to immerse themselves in the charm of the city brought about by the collision of diverse arts through music pop-ups, painting art creations, and other means.

As dusk fell and night descended, a melodious string quartet filled Fengshang Street in Hongqiao Nanfeng City. A lively musical flash mob was staged, with its vibrant melodies lingering in the streets and alleys, attracting passersby to stop and listen. Many tourists paused to immerse themselves in the flowing notes.

As the music ended, Italian cross-disciplinary artist Daniel Espen presented a collaborative artwork titled "Flux," inviting passersby to pick up paintbrushes and participate in the art creation process.

This art piece draws inspiration from the architectural geometric patterns and spatial structures of distinctive commercial districts in Changning, such as Hongqiao Nanfeng City.

The artist extracts elements from these patterns to construct a perspective space with a sense of extension. In the work, the inherent dynamism and order of the architecture metaphorically represent the bustling, vibrant, and diverse urban state within the commercial districts; converging perspective lines create strong visual tension, fluorescent colors depict the flow of pedestrians, and silhouettes of people of different ages symbolize citizens and tourists moving forward side by side in unison.

“Paintings often belonged to a single creator. But we live in a sharing era, so I want to invite everyone to participate in the creation of paintings. Everyone can also name the works and write the history of this work together.” Speaking about the concept of this collaborative art creation, Daniel Espen said, “When people leave their mark on the work, they will truly feel that the painting also belongs to them. The work is no longer separated from the public as it was in the past. Every citizen is a part of this artwork.”

At the event, traditional Chinese melodies were performed simultaneously. Performers dressed in traditional costumes presented a special folk music performance. The dulcimer's clear and crisp sound and the sheng's deep and melodious tone resonated in the commercial district. The unique timbre of traditional folk instruments echoed in the commercial street, blending ancient Eastern charm with the modern atmosphere of the business district, allowing citizens and tourists to experience the unique charm of traditional folk music up close.

As part of the 2026 "Most Hongqiao" Carnival Artist Co-creation Series, this event is not only an experiment in bringing art from the halls of fame to the business district, but also continues the "Most Rainbow Bridge" Carnival's consistent pursuit of shaping tourism with culture, highlighting culture with tourism, and promoting commerce with culture. It vividly interprets Changning's concept of deep integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, exhibition, and greening, and becomes a vibrant carrier for showcasing the cultural soft power of Changning District.