ArchiDogs

Rural revitalization is more than rebuilding spaces or reviving industries—it is about renewing cultural identity and collective imagination. In Huangyan, China, the Dongkui waxberry, cultivated for over 5,000 years, is both a regional crop and a cultural symbol woven into literature, art and daily life. However, under rapid urbanization, the industry faces shrinking communities, ecological pressures and the erosion of cultural value.

Waxberry Hyperlink adopts film as a new way to engage with this condition. Over three years and more than ten field trips, the documentary follows the transformation of the “Mother Tree Garden,” the core of a 57,800-hectare master plan that envisions waxberry as an integrated system of industry, community and culture.

The cinematic medium works as both record and reconstruction. For villagers, it offers a way to rediscover their home, as renewed squares and factories re-enter collective memory. For wider audiences, it opens a lens onto the complexity of rural transformation, making revitalization visible, tangible, and open to dialogue. In this sense, the film becomes both archive and catalyst—preserving fragile histories while shaping new forms of community identity.

From the outset, the project confronted rural hollowing, industrial decline, political boundaries and ecological degradation. Through interviews with designers, farmers, scientists, local officials and community groups, it captured diverse perspectives, documenting traditional cultivation alongside new technologies. This process laid the foundation for a renewed brand identity—most notably the launch of the “Dongkui Luoman Waxberry” as a symbol of cultural and commercial reinvention.

Disseminated as a trailer, spatial videos, and a full-length documentary across social platforms, the project broadened awareness while also supporting local promotion and sales. Since 2020, our team has advanced rural practice in China through branding, media and storytelling. Waxberry Hyperlink continues this work as a cultural experiment, weaving agriculture, community, and identity into a shared vision for the countryside’s future.

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