Estudios cinematográficos CCTV de Wuxi

The CCTV Wuxi Film and Television Base is a 5A-rated historical film and television park on the southern shore of Tai Lake, run by China Television Media and first developed in 1987. It holds the distinction of being one of the earliest large-scale themed film bases built in China, originally established to house the major television adaptations of China's classical novels and since grown into a combined working studio and tourist attraction on the lakefront.

The base is organized into a series of themed zones, each recreating a different period or story from Chinese history and literature. The Three Kingdoms and Water Margin sections are the most famous, built to film the 1990s adaptations of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin," and remain the heart of the visitor experience. Their recreated palaces, city walls, military compounds, and riverside towns give visitors a walk-through version of the worlds of those novels, with costumed performers, period signage, and dressed storefronts throughout.

Live staged performances are the base's signature draw. Throughout the day, the park runs choreographed shows built around famous battle scenes, cavalry charges, staged duels, and acrobatic stunt work, often drawing directly on the most dramatic moments of the source novels. These performances are what distinguish the base from a static film-set tour and tend to be the highlight for most visitors, particularly families with children, who respond strongly to the scale and energy of the shows.

A full visit takes most of a day if visitors want to catch the main performances across the different sections, and timing the route around the show schedule is essential rather than something to figure out on arrival. Because the base sits on the Tai Lake shoreline alongside Wuxi's lakeside gardens, Lingshan, and other major western-shore attractions, it works well as part of a day spent in this part of the city, offering a cultural and theatrical counterpoint to the Buddhist and garden-focused attractions elsewhere around the lake.