2022.01.08

The "golden coordinate" for an eagerly anticipated 2020-21 commercial real-estate project, the Mall China Golden Mall Awards 2021 Excellent Design Award, the 2021 Global Business Engine (GBE) Best Theme and Characteristic Commercial Complex Award and the 2020-2021 Asia Pacific Property Awards Mixed-Use Architecture are among the honors accorded to Times Fun-in (Guangzhou), an eye-catching intelligent complex, in the three years since its launch. Now, the last piece is in place: Times Fun-in CR8.

A 95% occupancy rate, with 60% being local flagship stores; the 10-meter Sooya Ban; a group of cute COSMOS bears along with street dancing, hip-hop, skateboarding, e-sports competitions and New Year activities electrified the opening show of the "new gathering place for trendy art,” and in the process they redefined the current trend in urban commerce.

The spectrum of business services of Times Fun-in (Guangzhou) was completed, and the CR8 shopping mall was opened on January 7, 2022. Present for the festivities were Mr. Li Weicheng, director of the Zhongcun Subdistrict Office, Mr. Shum Chiu Hung, board chairman of Times China, Mr. Guan Jianhui, vice chairman of the Board of Directors and chairman of Times China's Innovation Management Committee, Mr. Zhang Jianhua, general manager of Times Commercial and other senior managers as well as merchant and media representatives.

▲ Opening ceremony of Times Fun-in CR8

(From left to right are: Hu Chong, executive vice president of Guangdong Dongfang Gaosheng Technology Co., Ltd., Liu Xin, a famous font designer and artist at FonderType; Li Tie, chairman of Guangzhou GuideRank Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Jian Jianquan, secretary of the Hanxi Village Committee; Li Weicheng, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of Zhongcun Subdistrict and director of the Zhongcun Subdistrict Office; Shum Chiu Hung, board chairman of Times China; Guan Jianhui, vice chairman of the Board of Directors and chairman of Times China's Innovation Management Committee; Zhang Jianhua, general manager of Times Commercial Group; Liu Li, general manager of South China expansion for Xingjvhui KTV; and Lu Weiming, general manager of MUKMEEN.)

Times Fun-in (Guangzhou) is located at the Hanxi Wanbo Business District along the central axis of the extended area south of Guangzhou and directly above Hanxi Changlong Station of Metro lines 3 and 7, where it encompasses a floor area of approximately 210,000 square meters. As a representative work of the intelligent complex line of Times Commercial, it's a stunningly dimensional urban space that connects nature with humans and commerce with leisure while integrating diverse business services and scenarios such as offices, commerce, culture and social contact.

As Times Commercial General Manager Zhang stated, Times Fun-in (Guangzhou) not only embodies the industrial and commercial accumulation of Times China in the past two decades but also reflects Times Commercial's thinking in regard to community-oriented complex operations. Moreover, it symbolizes Times China's profound effort to create the ideal life and facilitate urban development. The establishment of intelligent complexes, a carrier of wonderful life experiences and the momentum of urban growth, strives to consolidate the corporate positioning as an urban development operator. Times China not only serves the "people" who live in cities but also serves the areas in which people live.

The newly opened shopping mall, known as CR8, is positioned as a "new gathering place of trendy art.” It is designated to be a place of social contact for the integration and innovation of diverse cultures and for people expecting a wonderful encounter. Each individual and each culture can gather here and identify respective stages. Therefore, the opening ceremony, on the theme "Gathering and Onstage,” attracted new and fashionable brands, novel scenes and people full of personality. On this stage, everyone is a protagonist. Urban young people are exposed to unique experiences in this diverse urban environment.

Unveil Traffic Passwords, Unlock a New Gathering Place of Trendy Art

Immersive experiences in scenes of trendy art have become a "rigid demand" of contemporary youngsters. In view of this, the commercial space of Times Fun-in CR8 has highly integrated the expression of trendy art. The shopping mall is designed to cover leisure, entertainment and culture through photogenic spots for social media--Sooya Studio has tailor-made for CR8 the world's first 10-meter Sooya Ban statue that is cute and funny. Additionally, consumers will find COSMOS Bears, a popular trendy IP, at the acousto-optic interaction installation on the "Ocean Melody Bridge" over the big steps. Moreover, Zhou Yue Tu looking upon the stars awaits you at the Flower Wonderland of the Green Terrace.

▲ Figure 1: Sooya Ban. Figure 2: COSMOS bears on the Ocean Melody Bridge.
Figure 3: Zhou Yue Tu. Figure 4: Giraffes at the Green Terrace

Furthermore, Times Fun-in CR8 organized abundant and trendy activities for youngsters during the opening ceremony. For example, the artist Liu Xin held a painting and calligraphy exhibition titled "Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter,” while C-Lab, the Bambini Playmate Tribe and LocoLab "Nice to C you" co-hosted a photo exhibition. Visitors sang to their heart's content at the performance of Xiong Tai and His Friends along with the hip-hop music busking of Gang Yue Jiang Yue. Moreover, some participated in the competitions of street dance, e-sports and skateboarding. Others attended the Youth Art Fair or engaged socially at the Make a Friend Camping Festival. All these innovative events and activities embody Times Fun-in CR8's passion for cultural diversity and its dedication to catering for the needs of young people.

▲ Figure 1: K-pop random dance. Figure 2: Artist Liu Xin's painting and calligraphy
exhibition titled "Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter". Figure 3: Youth Art Fair.
Figure 4: Make a Friend Camping Festival

Urban Oasis + Popular Brands + Diverse Cultures Lead Innovation and Changes in Social Contact-oriented Commerce

The "CR8" in Times Fun-in CR8 comes from the English word, "create". It implies the integration of Times Commercial's corporate gene as a "Beautiful City Changemaker" into architectural space and content-based operation. The project centers on three settings, namely an urban oasis, a place for the display of hot brands and a proving ground for the integration of diverse cultures. Positioned as a new gathering place for trendy art, the complex opens new avenues to "small but beautiful" social contact-oriented commerce.

Times Fun-in CR8 combines local characteristics and focuses on the keywords like "social contact, art and culture as well as trendiness and fun". More than 60% of the brands thus settled at Times Fun-in CR8 have opened their flagship stores in the complex of Guangzhou City or Panyu District. They include Sekinana, a must-visit restaurant in Shanghai for several consecutive years, the Internet-famous Xingjvhui KTV Black Gold Store, MUKMEEN, a much-loved Cantonese restaurant, the Man Tung Cafe IP Store, the TOP TOY concept store, COMMUNE and Da Ge Fan. Meanwhile, Times Fun-in CR8 has welcomed the updated image stores of Warrior 1927, ERKE, Hakka Yu, YECO, Dashixiong and Lao Xiang Cun, thus imbuing the Hanxi Wanbo Business District with vitality.

Additionally, the Times Cloud Screen Theater, independently operated by Times Commercial, will launch during the first half of 2022. The Times Cloud Screen Theater, covering approximately 1,800 square meters, suggests that "the cloud screen is infinite." The flow of its spatial design accommodates multiple functions, including performances, dramas, lectures, concerts and runways. The theater will enhance the urban lifestyle with a wide range of immersive cultural experiences to meet residents' desire for high-quality art as part of a fast-paced life. Thus, it will become a new regional landmark of culture and art.

Times Fun-in CR8, as an innovative player in commerce oriented toward social contact, had introduced C-Lab, its innovative content brand, prior to the opening ceremony. This is a new solution to "social circles" proposed by Times Commercial regarding the operations of private traffic. Through C-Lab, Times Fun-in CR8 linked multiple merchants in the complex, such as Bambini, the Ferris Wheel Art School, E-Cafe and CHATEEN, to organize the Make a Friend Camping Festival at the atrium on the third floor to offer customers a rich scene imbued with equally rich content. This activity not only conveyed the concept of community-oriented operations of the complex but also created a place of social contact driven by both industry and commerce. Looking ahead, C-Lab will integrate more cultural experiences, such as trendy fairs, pop-up brand stores, art exhibitions and cultural salons while connecting consumers, employees and more individuals throughout the complex, based on the carrier of Times Fun-in CR8, in line with the concept of community-oriented complex operations. Concurrently, an interactive ecosystem of trendy art, where "exhibitions appear on each floor, the theater is accessible to everyone", will be established to guide urban youth to transform from participants to explorers and dig into more possible lifestyles.

▲ Figure 1: Times Cloud Screen Theater. Figure 2: "One World" Children's Art
Gallery jointly held by C-Lab and the Ferris Wheel Art School

Full Spectrum of Business Services of Times Intelligent Complex Is Completed to Empower Regional Economic Development

The gross floor area of Times Fun-in (Guangzhou) is approximately 210,000 square meters, consisting of the grade-A office buildings of the 160,000-square-meter E-PARK, the 30,000-square-meter CR8 shopping mall, and cultural and business amenities of nearly 20,000 square meters. Particularly, the grade-A office buildings of E-PARK have, since its launch in 2017, attracted multiple Fortune Global 500 companies and the headquarters of industry leaders, represented by Huya, Mitsubishi Electric, China Railway Construction South Investment Co., Ltd., Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. and PepsiCo, based on Times Commercial's industry-operation platform. Thus, an industry ecosystem covering both the Internet and the headquarters economy has taken form. Statistically, the annual output exceeds RMB 10 billion and the taxes paid by enterprises surpass RMB 2 billion.

▲ Photo of Times Fun-in (Guangzhou)

Thanks to the completion of full-spectrum business services, Times Fun-in (Guangzhou) bridges the gap of the Hanxi Wanbo Business District in social contacted-oriented commerce while elevating and enriching consumption in the area. Accordingly, it will continue to promote development in the southern extension of Guangzhou as a model of integrated culture, commerce, tourism, sports and consumption in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Additionally, it will serve to convey Times China's strength and vision in regard to the industrial and commercial development segments.

Times China's industrial and commercial development segments are managed by Times Commercial. Motivated by the twin drivers industry and commerce, the company provides value-chain operations that range from city and industry planning to spatial positioning, product development, investment-attraction operations and industry development for urban spaces. Four major product lines are included--industrial towns, intelligent complexes, shopping malls and theme blocks--and the total area under development and management now exceeds 4.5 million square meters. Intelligent complexes integrating diverse business services, such as culture, commerce, industry and offices, represented by Times Fun-in (Guangzhou), have heightened the influence of Times Commercial in industrial evolution and development for the new era on the basis of its two-decade engagement in industry and commerce.