When it comes to Chinese cinema, imperial palaces, or Kungfu master hide-outs often come to mind. But what you might not know, is that many such scenes are filmed in a town in east China. Yang Chengxi takes us there.

It's where many film memories are made, often invoking a sense of wonderment in audiences. You see it in the epic historical sweep of Zhang Yimou's Hero, and the Kungfu fantasies of Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom. This is Hengdian, a remote town tucked away in eastern China's mountainous Zhejiang province. Yet with 21 filming lots spread out over an incredible 30 square kilometers, it is home to the largest outdoor studio in the world.

YIN XU, VICE PRESIDENT HENGDIAN GROUP "You can see our development to scale today, as a microcosm of the development of China's film and TV industry. As dramas and movies flourish, they need more scenes and so we continue to build to meet that need."

From a replica of the Forbidden City, to a realistic representation of a Song Dynasty scroll painting, AND the palace of China's first emperor. Within just one day you can literally travel through China's thousands of years of history. And from the first set built in 1996, to more than 100 lots and studios today, Hengdian's growth in just a little over two decades is perhaps as magical as the films made here. Yang Chengxi, CGTN.