Zhenbeibu Western Film Studio — Yinchuan
Zhang Xianliang’s studio on Ming and Qing frontier forts · studio founded in the early 1990s · Xixia District, Yinchuan, Ningxia
Photo: Yanxutong1215 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), taken 5 April 2021, as published in Street Art Utopia; full photo.
Zhenbeibu is a real Ming dynasty frontier fort near Yinchuan, built in 1500 according to China Daily, with a second fort reportedly built after an earthquake in 1740, that became one of China’s best-known film locations. Writer Zhang Xianliang founded the studio there; Zhang Yimou’s Red Sorghum and the comedy A Chinese Odyssey were filmed here. Source Source Source Source Reported
Standing Nov 2025: China Daily on 24 November 2025 promoted winter visits to the studio, with costume hire in its Qing City and the Moon Gate in its Ming City. Source Checked
💡 4 things to know
- A real fort, not a fakeChina Daily says the fort was built in 1500, in the Ming dynasty, as a frontier stronghold; a travel guide adds that a second fort was built after a 1740 earthquake. Source Reported
- A writer’s studioChina Daily says writer Zhang Xianliang built the studio, and a 2011 travel report says he took over the site. According to an undated SCMP profile of him, he first saw the clay walls of an old fortress in 1961, just out of a labour re-education camp. Source Source Source Reported
- Red Sorghum and a cult comedyCGTN’s tour shows sets from A Chinese Odyssey, Dragon Inn and Red Sorghum, which China Daily says won China’s first Golden Bear in 1988. Source Reported
- Still open to visitorsIn late 2025 visitors could rent A Chinese Odyssey costumes in Qing City and photograph the Moon Gate in Ming City, the Red Sorghum base, China Daily reported. Source Reported
📍 Where it is
Zhenbeibu, Xixia District, Yinchuan, Ningxia Source Source Reported
Opens a map at the studio in Xixia District, west of Yinchuan.
🗓️ Sightings
- 201123 Jun
Travel blog visit report from the studio · You’re Not From Around Here
- 201428 Sep
The Paper recalls the classic films shot at the studio
- 201818 Dec
China Daily profile of the studio and its 1500 fort
- 20215 Apr
Photo of the studio gate area
- 20215 Jun
CGTN video tour of the sets
- 202524 Nov
China Daily promotes winter visits, Nov 2025
Green stamps mark dated photographs (the date given on the photo’s page); amber stamps mark records, events and reports. Publication dates are not photo dates.
🗞️ In the sources
张贤亮走了，但八十年代留在我们的心里
“在中国当代作家里，张贤亮可谓是与影视合作最密切的一位。”
Among contemporary Chinese writers, Zhang Xianliang worked most closely with film and TV.
✅ The facts
- Studio founded
- 1993 (a travel guide) or after 1992 (The Paper); we lean to 1993, the only exact year given Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
- Movie Sets Still Standing Years After Filming (10 Photos vol. 2) — Street Art Utopia
- The Movie Ended, the Set Stayed (10 Photos) — Street Art Utopia
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- regional.chinadaily.com.cn — c 637750.htm
- intotravelchina.com — zhenbeibu-western-film-studio.html
- news.cgtn.com — index.html
- subsites.chinadaily.com.cn — c 1142851.htm
- yourenotfromaroundhere.com — zhenbeibu-china-west-film-studio-yinchuan-china
- scmp.com — novelist-creates-film-empire-barren-wilderness
- The Paper (澎湃新闻) — 张贤亮走了，但八十年代留在我们的心里 (28 September 2014)
- commons.wikimedia.org — File:镇北堡西部影城.jpg
- Hero image: Photo: Yanxutong1215 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), taken 5 April 2021, as published in Street Art Utopia; the share image is a 16:9 version of it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 11 November 2026 · How we verify art