The 12th China Cangzhou International Wushu Competition closed on September 13 at Cangzhou Stadium, according to a report from Xinhuanet. The event brought together 4,352 athletes and coaches from 295 teams across 40 countries and regions, with participants ranging in age from 4 to 82.
Ahead of the competition, Cangzhou released a 17-minute AI-generated short film titled Iron Lion: The Sentinel of Time. The release said the film places fictional characters alongside the city's urban landscape, its wushu traditions and memories of the Grand Canal, and was made for an international audience. It explores how traditional culture can be reimagined through storytelling at a time when artificial intelligence is used to make films, the release said. Released on September 5, it has recorded more than 5.51 million views across platforms.
The release also quoted a commenter writing under the name "Siwei Jiaoyu," who said they had not expected AI to produce such a Chinese kung fu short film and described it as a pleasant surprise.
The release said the city has in recent years explored new media and cultural experiences to take wushu beyond the competition arena. Canghai Qixia Town in Yunhe District draws on the city's history and wushu traditions for a "Seven Heroes of Canghai" intellectual property, offering more than 60 performances and interactive experiences that mix street performance and storytelling with wushu, intangible cultural heritage, local food and cultural products. The release describes the site as one of the key cultural tourism projects of the 10th Conference of Hebei Tourism Industry Development.
