BEIJING, Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news from China.org.cn:
As dusk falls, lights illuminate the National Quantum Laboratory along Shuxi Lake's southern shore, while neighboring commercial complexes glow against the twilight. Researchers jog by the water or debate ideas in cafés. This daily tableau of "people-city-industry" integration epitomizes life in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone's "One Mountain, Two Lakes" area.
Ecological environment: from "green lung" to growth engine
Centered on Dashu Mountain, Shuxi Lake, and Baiyan Lake, the zone forms the core area of high-quality development. With over 95% forest coverage, Dashu Mountain functions as the zone's "ecological lung," conserving more than 10 million cubic meters of water annually.
Shuxi Lake hosts national strategic assets such as the Quantum Lab and Institute of Advanced Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China, surrounded by over 700 high-tech enterprises within a 3-kilometer radius, with 25 firms per square kilometer. Baiyan Lake anchors a soil-water conservation theme park, encircled by premium housing, commerce, and education hubs forging modern ecosystems for living and working.
Innovation highland: global talent convergence
Leveraging this natural advantage, the zone is expanding human-centric development.
In urban development, the zone is implementing systematic improvements across ecology, transportation, education, healthcare, and governance, aligning with the goal of building an innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, culturally vibrant, and smart modern district.
Today, premium educational resources span all six areas, prestigious institutions have taken root, medical facilities have been upgraded, and smart lakeside running tracks embody human-centric design, improving living conditions across the board.
Now, around the "One Mountain, Two Lakes," quantum computing teams are pushing boundaries in core technologies. Grand Union of Innovation incubator gives birth to a tech company every three days. China Speech Valley registers new AI patent filings daily. Scenes of academics and CEOs brainstorming tech commercialization in lakeside cafés now symbolize its vibrant pulse.
Future blueprint: a global model of integrated living
Pursuing a "world-class high-tech zone" status, the zone accelerates the "One Mountain, Two Lakes" vision. At the Zhong'anChuanggu Technology Park, young talents gather at workspaces offering free accommodation and entrepreneurship consultation, chasing dreams amid a beautiful landscapes and supportive business environment.
The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone is leveraging its "One Mountain, Two Lakes" ecological asset as a competitive edge to create a thriving hub for science, industry and a dream place to live.
Hefei high-tech zone witnesses thriving ecology, innovation
http://www.china.org.cn/hefeihightech/2025-08/14/content_118027351.html
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Hefei high-tech zone witnesses thriving ecology, innovation
ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the official opening of Desert X AlUla 2026, the landmark fourth edition of the international, open-air biennial exhibition. Arts AlUla, in collaboration with Desert X, welcomes visitors to experience a stellar line-up of Saudi and international multi-generational artists whose site-responsive earthworks, sculptures, and installations will engage in a powerful dialogue with the awe-inspiring landscapes and layered heritage of AlUla.
As a premier destination rich in ancient history and breathtaking nature, AlUla, located in Northwest Saudi Arabia, solidifies its position on the global stage as a dynamic, emerging land art destination with Desert X AlUla, the region's first public art biennale, and a key highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival.
The 2026 edition of Desert X AlUla brings together 11 acclaimed artists whose diverse works reflect a wide spectrum of ideas, materials, and traditions. From monumental kinetic sculpture to sound-based explorations above and below ground, each commission is deeply rooted in relationships to AlUla's distinctive environment, further cementing Desert X AlUla's reputation as a globally significant platform for site-responsive land art.
Desert X AlUla runs until February 28, 2026, as a cornerstone of the annual AlUla Arts Festival. Curated by Wejdan Reda, Zoé Whitley, with artistic direction by Neville Wakefield, and Raneem Farsi, its fourth edition explores 'Space Without Measure.' Inspired by Kahlil Gibran, the theme fosters contemplation of imagination within AlUla's natural settings. The exhibition, set in the desert canyons of AlUla, serves as a pre-opening programme for Wadi AlFann, offering a pivotal glimpse into AlUla's plans to create a permanent land art 'Valley of the Arts.'
Hamad Alhomiedan, Director of Arts & Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: "At Desert X AlUla 2026, audiences will engage with art that deeply converses with AlUla's unique landscapes and rich heritage. These compelling commissions highlight AlUla's dynamic transformation into a major global destination, where ancient and contemporary expressions converge. This exhibition is part of our broader revitalisation of AlUla as a culturally rich destination to live, work and visit and integral to positioning AlUla in the global dialogue of contemporary art and as a precursor to monumental projects like Wadi AlFann."
Participating artist/artworks are:
- Sara Abdu, A Kingdom Where No One Dies: Contours of Resonance
- Mohammad Alfaraj, What was the Question Again?
- Mohammed AlSaleem, The Thorn, AlShuruf Unit, The Triangles, Flower Bud, and Al Ahilla (courtesy of Royal Commission for Riyadh City)
- Tarek Atoui, The Water Song
- Bahraini-Danish, Bloom
- Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Imole Red
- Agnes Denes, The Living Pyramid
- Ibrahim El-Salahi, Haraza Tree
- Basmah Felemban, Murmur of Pebbles
- Vibha Galhotra, Future Fables
- Héctor Zamora, Tar HyPar
For further information, please contact:
Sabrine.Shaw@bursonglobal.com
AlUlaArtsFestival@bursonglobal.com
Multimedia gallery:
High-resolution photos of all 11 artists and their artworks can be found here.
About AlUla and Arts AlUla
Located 1,100 km from Riyadh, in North-West Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering 22,561km², includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years to when the Lihyan and Nabataean kingdoms reigned.
The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra, the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. AlUla is also home to ancient Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms and considered to be one of the most developed 1st millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula, and Jabal Ikmah, an open air library of hundreds of inscriptions and writings in many different languages. AlUla Old Town Village, a labyrinth of more than 900 mudbrick homes was developed from at least the 12th century and has been revitalised as the vibrant hub for visitors and residents.
The creation of Arts AlUla within The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is a commitment to crafting the next chapters in a millennia of artistic creation – celebrating cultural inheritance and shaping a future inspired by artists built be artists. The work of Arts AlUla seeks to preserve this legacy: fuse the old with the new; the local with the international, keeping the arts central to the spirit of AlUla as a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage.
Wadi AlFann, meaning 'Valley of the Arts,' will be a global cultural destination for land art, unveiling from 2028 onwards, where era-defining works by artists from around the world will be permanently sited in the monumental landscape of AlUla, the extraordinary desert region of north-west Saudi Arabia.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Desert X AlUla 2026: monumental land art exhibition opens in the ancient oasis of AlUla
