1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan spent half a day in the office in the morning and went to the concert in the afternoon.

Tomorrow is the first concert of the Forbidden City Music Concert, and Zhou Yan will come for the final rehearsal this afternoon.

Since we had already rehearsed several times, there wasn't much to do in the afternoon and there were basically no problems.

If problems arise at this time, it will be a bit troublesome because they have less time to adjust.

The concert venue was basically built entirely on the spot, including the stage and auditorium, all created from scratch.

This stage cost a lot of manpower and material resources, and was created by the cooperation of two teams from China and abroad. The total cost was more than 13 million RMB, which was more than one million RMB higher than their previously planned budget.

The extra one million yuan was mainly used for projects to prevent rainy days.

However, the weather forecast says the weather will be good in the next few days, so this project costing more than one million yuan will probably not be needed.

Of course, it’s not the best idea. For an open-air concert like this, the biggest fear is rain.

No matter how well the rain protection is done, it will affect the concert experience.

After the last rehearsal, Zhou Yan stood on the stage and smiled. The more than 10 million yuan was not wasted. The effect on the scene was even better than Zhou Yan had expected.

The entire stage is set up on the three-story staircase in front of the Taimiao Hall. The performance area is clearly divided into levels. During the performance tomorrow, the entire piano youth orchestra will be distributed on these three levels of stairs.

Because the yard is flat, it is very difficult to make the auditorium into a stepped structure. Not only is the construction difficult, but the approval process is also difficult.

To build several levels of auditorium on the flat ground in the yard would require a large amount of steel and wood, and might cause damage to the ground. The relevant departments would not agree to this plan.

The stage is divided into three levels, so that although the audience seats are not layered, they can still clearly see what is happening in the orchestra on the stage.

During the rehearsal, Zhou Yan also went down to look at every position in the audience, almost ensuring that more than 3,000 seats could see the three levels of the stage.

In order to highlight the classic elements of the Forbidden City, the construction team also built a pool and a golden water bridge on the stage, giving the stage a dreamlike feeling.

Of course, most of the more than 10 million was actually spent on lighting and sound equipment.

In order to create different atmospheres and situations, a large number of lights were used on site, and a variety of lighting effects were achieved by changing the color, intensity and angle of the lights.

These lights complement the construction on the stage, blending modern technology with the classic style of the Temple of Heaven.

In order to achieve the best sound effects, the most advanced equipment is used on site, including large speakers, mixing consoles, effects processors... These devices can better convey the details of the music to the audience on site.

For an open-air concert, it is naturally a pipe dream to expect the sound effects to be as good as those in a concert hall.

The loss of sound alone is something that cannot be avoided.

But these devices can minimize the gap between the two.

Zhou Yan stood on the stage and looked around. Duan Guoming, the technical person in charge of stage lighting, trotted over to Zhou Yan and asked, "Teacher Zhou, do we need to go through the lighting process again?"

"Let's go again after dark."

In fact, the lights had been working for several days and there had been no problems. However, in order to ensure that there were no mistakes, Zhou Yan still asked Duan Guoming and others to try again.

Duan Guoming nodded and said, "No problem, we'll start testing the lighting at seven o'clock."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

"You're welcome, Mr. Zhou."

As soon as Duan Guoming left, Anita Mui, Mariah Carey and Joey Wong came over.

When they were almost in front of Zhou Yan, Anita Mui smiled and said, "Your stage effect is really strong, much better than our concerts."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "My place is small, so it's easier to manage. Concert venues are all big."

"A normal concert wouldn't cost you that much." Anita Mui smiled and looked at the audience, "Where are we going to sit tomorrow?"

"Don't you have seats on your tickets?"

Anita Mui curled her lips and said, "I didn't pay attention."

Wang Zuxian smiled and said, "Sister Ah Mei, I am No. 26 in the same row, and you should be No. 27. We are sitting together, and the No. 28 next to you is Faye Wong."

"You have a good memory." Anita Mui smiled and looked at Zhou Yan, "Xiaoxian is here, and you didn't even say hello?"

Zhou Yan took the opportunity to greet Wang Zuxian, "Well, hello, classmate Xiaoxian."

Anita Mui laughed and teased, "I heard that you kissed passionately in the new movie. It's a pity that the movie has been taken down, otherwise I would go to the cinema to watch it."

"There aren't many kissing scenes either." Joey Wong muttered.

Anita Mui tilted her head and looked at Joey Wong, "From what you said, you still think it's not enough?"

Joey Wong defended herself, "That's not what I meant. There weren't many kissing scenes to begin with."

Anita Mui smiled, "Whether it's a lot or not, we'll know when we look back. By the way, A-Yan, did you ever have a kissing scene with Xiao-Yin?"

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Yeah, yes, I haven't acted in many dramas to begin with, and even fewer kissing scenes, all of which were with her."

"Tsk tsk, that's such a pity. Kissing scenes are just like any other scenes. They need practice. How can you improve just by acting with Xiaoxian? If there's a chance in the future, we can do some kissing scenes. I'm also a good kisser."

Anita Mui likes to joke and sometimes she is a bit unrestrained.

Zhou Yan certainly couldn't respond to this joke. He coughed twice, looked at Mariah Carey, and said in English, "How was your time in Yanjing these days?"

“Very good, thanks to Anita, she took me to many places.”

Anita is Anita Mui's English name. These days it is basically Anita Mui who brings Mariah Carey, and occasionally Faye Wong and others will also join in the shopping.

Zhou Yan even knew where they had been these days, because it was reported in the newspapers. They did not hide their activities at all and often went to crowded places.

The media were very happy during this period. There was news to write every day. They didn't know how to get enough space before, but now they have to give some to Mariah Carey, some to Faye Wong, and some to Anita Mui, Zhang Xueyou, Zhang Guorong and others. There is almost not enough space.

In addition to these stars who came to Yanjing, they also devoted some space to the box office report of "Time Traveler" in Neon. The follow-up of this news is very popular among readers.

Many newspapers and magazines report the box office of "Time Traveler" almost every day.

Some newspapers were doing well, but suddenly one day they stopped publishing, and readers immediately called the newspaper to ask about it. Zhou Yan nodded, "If you are not in a hurry to leave, you can have fun with them in China later."

"I actually have such a plan. I met Celine Dion yesterday afternoon. She said she was going to Chengdu and asked me if I wanted to go. I heard that the food in Chengdu is very spicy and I may not be able to adapt to it."

"There are non-spicy ones in Chengdu, but I suggest you don't be a light bulb."

"Oh, you're right. Without me, they can enjoy their own world." Mariah Carey smiled and asked Zhou Yan, "Do you have time after the concert? Can you take me for a walk?"

Zhou Yan apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't have time after the concert."

"Okay." Mariah Carey's face was full of regret.

Both Joey Wong and Anita Mui saw this regret. Joey Wong's expression was calm, as if she didn't see it, while Anita Mui looked like she was enjoying the show.

Although Wang Zuxian and Zhou Yan did not have an open relationship, Anita Mui probably knew something about their affairs.

Anita Mui smiled and said, "It's okay, Maria. If you still want to continue traveling in China, then after the concert, I won't go back to Hong Kong. I will accompany you to have fun in the cities in the mainland. Anyway, I had planned to travel around the mainland, so it's good to have an extra companion."

"Really?"

"Of course, we can fly to Pengcheng, start from Jiaochangwei, and then go all the way north."

"What is Jiaochangwei?"

Anita Mui nodded towards Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian, "That's where they got married."

"The two of them, getting married?" Mariah Carey widened her eyes in disbelief.

Didn't Y say that she was not married yet? Why is she married to Joey Wong now? What's going on?
Wang Zuxian saw Mariah Carey's complicated expression and felt a little proud in her heart, but she smiled and explained, "Maria, you misunderstood. Jiaochangwei is the filming location of About Time. We filmed the wedding scene there."

"Haha, you think they are really married. But when the movie was being filmed, some media did publish photos of them filming and said that they were married. Because the movie was so popular, I heard that Jiaochangwei has become a wedding sanctuary, and many people hold their weddings on that pier. If we go there, we should see someone getting married."

Anita Mui was right. After the release of "Time Traveler", Jiaochangwei has indeed become a very popular wedding venue.

Since there is a demand, there will naturally be no shortage of corresponding services.

There are now special wedding companies in Jiaochangwei that specialize in receiving guests who want to get married at the old pier of Jiaochangwei.

In fact, the number of people who actually want to hold their wedding in Jiaochangwei is not large. Among those who come for consultation, most want to take wedding photos.

Jiaochangwei has beautiful scenery, but the location is a bit remote, so it is not very realistic for many people to hold their wedding here.

But there is no problem taking wedding photos here.

Among the services provided by wedding companies, one of the more popular projects is "movie scene reproduction".

They will create the scene from the movie on the pier, except they will replace the male and female protagonists with guests, and then shoot a wedding video just like in the movie.

What’s even more amazing is that they even had actors to play the guests attending the wedding, making it look so realistic.

Of course, it is impossible to achieve the effect of a movie. The camera movement will not be very complicated, and it would be good enough to be able to shoot some rough clips.

This project sounds quite expensive, after all, it requires a lot of extras, but the price asked by the wedding company is not particularly high. It seems that the lowest package price is more than a thousand yuan.

The reason why we can offer such a low price is that these orders are shot in bulk.

For example, a wedding company receives a total of 100 orders, and then selects three or four days to concentrate on shooting these 100 orders.

This way, the scene only needs to be set up once and then reused.

As for the extras, most of them are local residents. We only need to pay each of them a few days’ pay, which doesn’t cost much.

In addition, the local tourism bureau is also helping to promote this project, which will provide many conveniences to these wedding companies.

When Zhou Yan heard about this, he was also moved that any business can be done.

When Zhou Yan heard this, he thought that there wouldn't be too many orders. After all, there are only so many people getting married every year, and most of those who live too far away would not be able to make a special trip to Jiaochangwei.

Moreover, the set meal is cheap at over a thousand yuan, but many people cannot afford it.

However, Zhou Hong told him that the wedding company was overwhelmed with orders and was considering raising prices and reducing the number of orders.

At the same time, Zhou Hong told him that those who came to take photos were not necessarily newlyweds who were about to get married.

At least one-third of them were ordinary couples who had no plans to get married. They just watched the movie and thought the wedding scene was very romantic, so they placed an order when they heard about this package.

Many couples originally went to Jiaochangwei for a simple trip, and then saw this project and were attracted.

In addition to couples who are not married and have no plans to get married in the near future, there are also some couples who are already married.

Although they are married, they are still very interested in this project. After all, their wedding was not so romantic, and making a video can make up for it.

Mariah Carey didn't see the movie, so she didn't have much impression of the wedding scene that Anita Mui mentioned. However, she was also interested when she learned that Jiaochangwei was the filming location of "About Time".

"Okay, let's go there and see where the movie was filmed before I even see About Time."

"That place is very beautiful, you won't be disappointed." Anita Mui said with a smile.

Zhou Yan smiled secretly and said, go ahead, it would be best if all the stars could go to Jiaochangwei to fully boost the tourism there.

The Zhou family is involved in the tourism development of Jiaochangwei. If this project makes money, some of it will go into the Zhou family's pockets.

However, Zhou Hong participated in the development of Jiaochangwei at that time not for the purpose of making money, but to give some support to the government in exchange for the government's support for Zhou's business in the future.

However, when the Jiaochangwei project was being planned, it was already a long-term project and would not make money in the short term.

Many savvy businessmen are unwilling to undertake such a project. The government has also spent a lot of time and effort on this project and lobbied many people.

Many people are scared away when they hear about the investment costs and profit cycles. Those who are able to stay in the end are all relatively capable.

Now it seems that Zhou Hong has definitely achieved his goal.

The scene at the end of the competition was entirely driven by Zhou Yan. For the Pengcheng government, Zhou Yan represented the Zhou family, which meant that the Zhou family helped them a lot this time. (End of this chapter)