Witnessing a Century of Chinese Animation Glory – Hongmei Art Museum (Centennial Chinese Comic Art Museum) Celebrates Third Anniversary with Impressive Achievements

The Hongmei Art Museum (Centennial Chinese Comic Art Museum), located in Hongmei Town, Dongguan City, within the core area of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, celebrated the third anniversary of its opening. As the nation’s first comprehensive exhibition hall themed on “100 Years of Chinese Animation,” the museum has welcomed nearly 500,000 visitors over the past three years and generated over 4.5 million views on new media platforms for related content. It has quietly evolved from a specialized exhibition space into a beloved and uniquely charming cultural landmark for the public.

A Multidimensional Presentation of a Century-Long Legacy, Creating a Diverse Public Cultural Space

Since its official opening on January 6, 2023, the floor area of the Hongmei Art Museum (Centennial Chinese Comic Art Museum) has expanded from an initial 1,500+ square meters to 3,500 square meters. The museum not only systematically presents the century-long development of Chinese animation and comics since the early 20th century but also, by integrating permanent exhibitions, special temporary exhibitions, digital interactive experiences, IP creative development, and study tours, has constructed a “fun and substantive” modern public cultural space, vividly narrating the story of Chinese animation and comics to global enthusiasts.

In terms of its collection, it brings together over a thousand precious exhibits, including original manuscripts, cel drawings, character design drafts, and creator-made clay models from landmark works such as Havoc in Heaven (1961), Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (1979), Sanmao the Vagrant, and Black Cat Detective. Among these, several techniques (such as ink-wash animation) were once state-level confidential projects, making the exhibition of their original materials of exceptionally high artistic and historical value.

A Year of Dazzling Events, Top IPs and Masters Gather

2025 was a year of vibrant energy for the Centennial Museum. As the annual highlight, the “Second Lingnan Water Town International Animation Week” was successfully held, encompassing three major thematic exhibitions and seven series of events. Within this, the animation competition unit solicited and selected 44 outstanding works, covering various directions including comics, animation, and IP development. The mascot IPs “Xi Yangyang and Le Rongrong” for the 15th National Games received the “Outstanding IP” award, and their chief designer Liu Pingyun attended to accept the award and sign autographs, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.

The six high-quality temporary exhibitions curated throughout the year were feasts for animation fans, showcasing an all-star lineup of IPs from home and abroad:

Exhibition Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Serialization of The Wulongyuan: Hundreds of square meters recreated classic comic scenes, and author Ao Youxiang personally created a giant dragon boat racing painting on-site, sparking enthusiastic responses from the audience.

Special Exhibition “Nezha’s Fantasy Journey in the Water Town”: Through 57 precious exhibits, including original animation art drafts and cels from the 1979 version of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, combined with immersive installations and animation screenings, it led audiences to retrace the animated journey of “Nezha,” facilitating a fantastical dialogue between tradition and modernity.

Furthermore, the museum collaborated with popular domestic animations like The Legend of Luo Xiaohei and Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, hosting public screenings and meet-and-greets with creators. It also successively invited numerous master artists such as “Father of Hong Kong Comics” Tony Wong, “Leading Figure in Chinese-Language Comics” Tsai Chih Chung, Lin Dihuan (creator of Xiaolin Comics), and Gu Ziyi (character designer for Black Cat Detective) to engage in zero-distance exchanges with the audience about their creative insights.

Deepening Aesthetic Education and Heritage, Nurturing Future Forces for Chinese Animation

The Centennial Museum has always been committed to the popularization and inheritance of animation and comic culture. Over three years, it has accumulated 15 temporary exhibitions and nearly 200 various public education events, with interactive programs for the public available almost weekly. Particularly notable is its “Young Talents in Chinese Animation” cultivation program: In 2023, ten young students paid formal respect to masters like Tony Wong, pledging their dedication to animation creation. By the Second Lingnan Water Town International Animation Week in 2025, works by these students were already able to participate in charity auctions alongside works by internationally renowned artists like Tsai Chih Chung and Takashi Murakami, realizing the leap from “receiving aesthetic education” to “participating in creation.”

The museum stated that one of its core missions is to deeply connect creators with the audience, allowing the public not only to appreciate the works but also to “see the brushstrokes and feel the craftsmanship,” thereby inspiring more dreams of “I want to draw comics too,” and achieving a “two-way journey” of cultural transmission.

Looking to the Future: Connecting History, Inspiring Tomorrow

Having traversed three extraordinary years, the Hongmei Art Museum (Centennial Chinese Comic Art Museum) has successfully established its unique position in the cultural landscape of Chinese animation and comics. It is both a “three-dimensional history book” carrying a century of glory and a window facing the future, inspiring boundless creativity. With the deepening advancement of cultural development in the Greater Bay Area, this animation palace nestled in the Lingnan water town will continue to leverage its rich collection, cutting-edge curation, and active public programs to connect the past and future of Chinese animation, continuously injecting inspiration and momentum for cultivating the creators of the next wave of domestic animation.