The trending Chinese anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" has put Shitanjing, a film shooting base in Shizuishan City of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in the spotlight.
With its rugged Gobi landscapes, vast deserts and striking industrial ruins, the former coal-mining town was transformed into a Middle Eastern setting for the film.
The heavily guarded military checkpoint seen in the movie is actually Shitanjing's iconic stone gatehouse, now one of the most popular photo spots in the area, drawing fans who visit specifically after watching the film.
"Yesterday I took my child to see this movie together. It just so happened that I learned it was filmed right here in our local area, so I really wanted to come to this film shooting base to experience the movie-making atmosphere firsthand," said Gao, a visitor.
"My husband used to work here, so we came for a sort of reminiscence. It's changed a lot, but you can still see traces of the past. The old buildings are all still here," said Li, another visitor.
"The building on our left here used to be called Fuxing Building, also known as Fuxing Department Store. Both sides of the street were lined with tin-roofed shacks, and the entire street was decorated with signs, all with a distinctly Middle Eastern vibe," said Wang Peng, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Shitanjing Subdistrict.
"Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" follows a Chinese man working as a chef at a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East in the 2000s when war breaks out. The film has garnered widespread acclaim through solid word of mouth and robust box office performance.
Since the movie's release on Aug 11, the number of daily tourist visits to Shitanjing reached 8,000, which is 16 times the figure before the film came out. To date, Shitanjing has received a total of 160,000 tourist visits this year.
Chinese anti-war film turns film shooting base into popular travel destination
New Zealand's ruling National-led coalition has secured a parliamentary majority in the general election, preliminary results showed early Sunday, putting Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on course to retain power for a second term.
The Election Commission's tally of all voting places has resulted in 11 "overhang" seats, increasing to 131 the total number of seats in parliament, which normally has 120.
Among the seats, the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First collectively secured 67, giving the three-party coalition a narrow majority to continue governing, while the opposition bloc of the Labor Party, the Green Party and the Maori Party garnered 57 in total.
The contest between the National and the Labor, led by former prime minister Chris Hipkins, remained exceptionally close, with each securing over 29 percent, according to preliminary figures.
Addressing supporters in Auckland, Luxon said the election was "too close to call," with the final outcome hinging on special votes to be counted. He acknowledged that negotiations and compromise would be needed to form the next government.
The outcome could still change when 700,000 special votes are counted days later. These include ballots cast by overseas voters and people voting outside their electorates, and are not included in the preliminary results, according to the Electoral Commission, which is scheduled to release the final official results, including special votes, on Nov. 27.
The Green Party has won a record 16 seats in parliament. The centrist Opportunity Party has also made a parliamentary breakthrough, projected to win seven seats, preliminary results showed.
The country has nearly 3.8 million provisionally enrolled voters for the 2026 general election, representing 93.6 percent of the estimated eligible population, below the final enrolment rates of 94.7 percent in 2023 and 94.1 percent in 2020, the commission said.
New Zealand uses the mixed-member proportional voting system to elect its parliament. Under this system, voters cast two ballots, one for a political party and another for their local electorate candidate. The government is usually formed by two or more parliamentary political parties.
New Zealand's National-led coalition wins majority parliamentary seats: preliminary results
