Pingyao Ancient City hosts film festival through 30 September
Published on 09/27/2026 at 07:35 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Pingyao Ancient City is hosting the 10th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival from 24 September 2026, with ???? serving as the setting in Shanxi, China. The festival opened on 24 September and continues through 30 September at the historic city and its Festival Palace.
Pingyao film festival runs through 30 September
The festival presents 50 films from nearly 40 countries and regions, including China, France, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Romania and the Philippines. The programme includes Asian and Chinese mainland premieres, alongside films by emerging directors.
The opening film was a newly restored 4K version of Chinese director Fei Mu's 1948 classic Spring in a Small Town. It received its Asian premiere at Pingyao Festival Palace, where the restoration's presentation connected a twentieth-century work of Chinese cinema with the festival's tenth edition. China Daily's festival report identifies both the venue and the 24 September opening.
The festival's official selection includes 14 feature-film directorial debuts. Its Hidden Dragons section focuses on emerging Chinese-language directors, while Crouching Tigers covers first, second or third features by international filmmakers. The awards connected with those sections are the Fei Mu Awards and Roberto Rossellini Awards.
Historic Pingyao gives the film programme its setting
The ancient city lies in Pingyao County in central Shanxi Province. UNESCO describes it as a well-preserved traditional Han Chinese city founded in the fourteenth century, with an urban fabric showing five centuries of architectural and town-planning development.
The World Heritage property includes the walled city as well as Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple. Within the walls are streets, lanes, shops, dwellings and temples, while the city's banking buildings reflect Pingyao's role as a financial centre for China during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. UNESCO's description of the heritage site records its 225-hectare area and World Heritage status.
That setting makes the current programme more than a city event nearby: screenings are taking place within a protected historic landscape whose streets and buildings form part of the heritage property. Travellers attending the festival therefore encounter both a film venue and a preserved urban plan associated with China's commercial history.
From restored cinema to emerging filmmakers in China
The restored opening film also places preservation at the centre of the 2026 programme. The China Film Archive used the original 35-millimetre nitrate negative, restored the original score and produced a new 5.1-channel soundtrack.
Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui On-wah serves as president of the Fei Mu Awards jury, while Italian film critic and curator Carlo Chatrian chairs the Roberto Rossellini Awards jury. The festival was founded by filmmaker Jia Zhangke in 2017 and focuses on young filmmakers from China and developing film industries.
Visiting Pingyao Ancient City: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival runs from 24 September to 30 September 2026 at Pingyao Festival Palace in Pingyao Ancient City.
- The programme includes 50 films from nearly 40 countries and regions, but the checked event information does not state admission terms or general access arrangements.
- Pingyao Ancient City is in Pingyao County, central Shanxi Province, China, inside a World Heritage property that also includes Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple.
- The heritage site contains historic streets, lanes, shops, dwellings and temples, so festival visits take place within a preserved urban environment rather than a purpose-built modern cinema district.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about Pingyao Ancient City
When does the Pingyao film festival take place at Pingyao Ancient City?
The 10th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival runs from 24 September to 30 September 2026.
What is Pingyao Ancient City?
It is a well-preserved traditional Han Chinese city in Shanxi, China, founded in the fourteenth century and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.
Where is Pingyao Ancient City and how do you get there?
It is in Pingyao County in central Shanxi Province. The heritage property includes the walled city and the associated sites of Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple.
