Author | Taotao
Edit | Rao Xiafei
For the Weibo internet celebrity "Qianyi Sister" who has been drifting north for more than ten years, Baiziwan is no longer the desirable place that represents the benchmark of young people's lifestyle.
Baiziwan, located east of the East Third Ring Road, west of the East Fourth Ring Road, north to Tonghuihe North Road, and south to Baiziwan South 2nd Road in Beijing, was once a promised place for young men and women chasing the dream of stardom: the prosperity of commercial circles such as buildings, R&F Plaza within a few kilometers of the surrounding area, and Xingguang Tiandi made it unique. At that time, Sister Qianyi felt that this place was like an independent small city, with its own disposition, very cool.
Rent was also an important factor for Qianyi's sister to live here at that time. At the beginning of the North Drift, her income was not high, and the rent near Baiziwan Homestead and Postmodern City was 3,000 yuan a month, which she could barely afford.
After 2015, Qianyi's sister became a travel Internet celebrity, and while her career has improved, the atmosphere of Baiziwan has become different from before. In her postmodern city, the neighbors around her came and went like water, usually changing every three months.
From yearning to leaving, the change in Qianyi's sister's attitude towards Baiziwan in the past ten years is also the epitome of the feelings of many Internet celebrities for this "dream-making virgin land".
Why are Internet celebrities gradually leaving the harbor that has nurtured them for many years? After losing internet celebrities, where is the next fulcrum of Baiziwan?
Influencers plummeted
Binbin, the manager of the store who opens a spicy temptation on the first floor of the Apple Community in Baiziwan, has not seen the Internet celebrities haunting here for three or four years.
"It may be because the epidemic has affected the income of Internet celebrities, or it may be that Baiziwan does not have so many entertainment companies now." Binbin told Burning Finance, "Some of the choreographers of film, television, dramas or dance dramas will come. ”
Since the beginning of this century, the real estate economy has developed, close to the business district, and is in the heart of Chaoyang, the cultural center of Beijing, Baiziwan has quickly attracted a large number of cultural and entertainment celebrities. They were stationed in Baizi Bay to this day.
Nowadays, the halo that hangs over Baiziwan as a gathering place for national Internet celebrities has begun to fade, first of all, the close connection between Internet celebrities and film and television directors and producers has begun to untie.
After the epidemic, for film and television graduates who are trying to become big names, the opportunity to become internet celebrities through star scouting and film and television dramas has become less and less.
According to data from the Red Star Capital Bureau, from January to November 2021, a total of 447 dramas and 14,804 episodes were recorded and announced for the national TV drama shooting and production; compared with the same period in 2020, it was 29% and 33% less; compared with the pre-epidemic period in 2019, it was almost waist-cutting. According to Tianyancha data, in 2021, nearly 50,000 enterprises with names or business scopes containing "film and television" in the mainland will be cancelled.
Nationwide, stars over the age of 30 have faced the problem of difficulty in taking over the drama and going to variety shows to open their doors. For example, Yi Nengjing, Yuan Yonglin, Yu Kewei and others who have previously set off a wave of topics on "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" have not made any film and television works including online dramas, micro-short dramas and musicals for 3 years. The tilt of the industry has squeezed out the space for newcomers to enter the game.
The gradual drifting away of Internet celebrities and Baiziwan is also due to the weakening of the centripetal force of Internet celebrities due to Beijing, the source of talent and enterprise transportation in this area.
For Internet celebrities who want to take the route of live streaming with goods, a high-quality MCN institution is undoubtedly the only way to play a personal brand and increase revenue for themselves. Many Internet celebrities have chosen to go south because of the developed trend of MCN institutions in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Xiao Ai, an Internet celebrity who graduated from Capital Normal University in cultural industry management, told Burning Finance that she chose to go to Shanghai after graduation. "Because of the convenience of shooting, the scenery of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is here, and the high-quality MCN is also concentrated in Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
According to the "2020 China MCN Industry Development Research White Paper", as early as 2019, thanks to the cost and supply chain advantages of southern cities, e-commerce MCN institutions developed rapidly, and the overall distribution of MCN institutions in the country "moved south", and the four provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hubei and Jiangsu included nearly 40% of the MCN institutions in the country. The MCN industrial cluster in the Yangtze River Delta has become the reason why many Internet celebrities have gone south.
The doorway is sparse
The sharp decline in Internet celebrities has been a big impact on Baiziwan merchants who take the grass planting of KOLs on platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Douyin as the core vitality.
In the Baiziwan area, there is a people's vegetable basket market recommended by many Internet celebrities, which mainly sells vegetables, melons and fruits, and there are snacks, ornaments and other stalls on both sides. If it weren't for the internet, this remotely located market wouldn't be easy to spot. However, under the recommendation of Internet celebrities, this market is quite "famous" in Baiziwan.
On the afternoon of one weekday in early April, Burning Finance found the "Net Red Meat and Egg Fort" shop that appeared several times on the Little Red Book in the people's vegetable basket market. There were three or two people queuing up at the entrance of the shop, and the landlady was busy making a meat and egg fort.
According to her, in general, the business here has always been OK, "especially at noon, people around the work will come over, 5 yuan a meat and egg fort, after all, it is cheaper; but there will be fewer people at night." Compared with last year, there is still a gap in sales this year. ”
The boss mentioned that she did not pay attention to how many Internet celebrities had come, but the people who dressed fashionably before would indeed come more. "The deeper impression is that a person who made a video came from years ago."
The Meat and Egg Fort shop is the hottest place for the people's vegetable basket business, and some other shops are not so lucky. About 20% of shops, including old white kebabs, have been pulling roller shutter doors for more than half a month. Relatively speaking, the narrow, five- or six-hundred-meter people's vegetable basket market, and the fruit and vegetable stalls in the middle are basically full - after all, buying vegetables is always just needed for surrounding residents.
In addition to farmers' and small commodity markets, new tea shops throughout the Baiziwan area are also decreasing dramatically.
Wang Lei, a science and technology media person who lives nearby, sighed that in the past two years, if you want to order milk tea and desserts on the takeaway platform, there are fewer and fewer options. This may also be affected by the double impact of the epidemic and the departure of Internet celebrities.
IDMALL, a shopping mall located near the Dajiaoting subway station, was established after the epidemic, and many of the internet celebrity shops in it have closed down.
According to the Beijing Business Daily, some analysts pointed out that the time for Fangyuanli to enter the market was more awkward, and after the epidemic, the market entered the market, resulting in brand merchants opening in each other's sidelines, lack of confidence and difficulty in attracting investment, making this mall, which originally had a strong competitor of Hopson Hui, 1 kilometer away, fall into a vicious circle of business.
In early April, when Burning Finance visited, the former Internet red shop on the second floor, Manji Desserts, was empty inside, and when the decoration master who had just finished busy inside was leaving, he told Burning Finance that he was decorating for the next boss, and first came to investigate. "Manji has just been transferred, I don't know if it is a business problem, but what I know is that the annual rent here is 400,000 yuan." The master revealed.
Of course, under the epidemic situation, the business situation in Fangyuanli is not only depressed by Internet celebrity shops such as tea and desserts. It has been observed that in April, only about 60% of the shops on the entire 7-story mall were still open. Also in the closed state are FMCG brand Uniqlo, luxury brand Chow Tai Fook, beauty shaping brand Slim and so on.
The clerk of the fast fashion brand UR told Burning Finance that some of these stores were renovated before and intended to open in the near future, but the epidemic delayed the opening time.
The service staff at the information desk on the first floor also said that many shops in the shopping mall are struggling to turn on and off. "For example, the Bosideng flagship store is closed and opened, opened and closed, and it really can't be supported."
Highlight moments
Although the current Baizi Bay is no longer what it used to be, it has also ushered in its own highlight moment.
In the last century, Baiziwan was also once an urban village, with low-lying terrain, often accumulating water, and could only grow weeds, so it was named Barnyard Bay, and the later harmonic sound was BaiziWan.
In the 21st century, under the wave of commercial real estate construction, Baiziwan has also begun to prosper. Land price depressions and entertainment industry celebrity gathering places were once synonymous with the area of Baizi Bay, which is a few kilometers in circumference. At that time, these two reasons also became the reason for Baiziwan to grow into an Internet celebrity star-making factory in the future.
More than a decade ago, the coastal Sailuo City, Baiziwan Homestead, postmodern city these communities, in 2005-2008 have been completed.
The cost-effective real estate has made many Internet celebrities like Qianyi's sister see this place as a place where they can settle down for a long time. Until today, compared with the surrounding second-hand house prices of 80,000 or 90,000 yuan a square meter, the average price of 66,000 yuan in Baiziwan can be described as a typical price depression; compared with the average price of more than 80,000 yuan a square meter in the whole Chaoyang, it is also 15,000 yuan lower.
Photo/ House prices in the area near Baizi Bay
Source/Anjuke Screenshot of Burning Finance
Baiziwan is also a favorite place for film and television practitioners since twenty years ago.
On the north side, the Jingtong Expressway is a well-developed road; just one street away from the famous CBD, famous directors, producers, investors and agents like to settle here.
"I've lived here since I was single more than 20 years ago, got married for a while, and now that my kids are in school, I'm back here again." Wang Yichun, an independent filmmaker known as a wild director in the film industry, has a decades-long relationship with Baiziwan.
In Wang Yichun's impression, after she lived in Baiziwan for a few years, the choreographer friends here began to increase, and as soon as she encountered a certain project, she could easily discuss it in Baiziwan: find actors, build a group, discuss the script... The circle of friends is here, and these things can quickly land.
Therefore, a few years ago, for students who graduated from film and television colleges, it was not a new thing to meet industry tycoons they admired in the major restaurants, tea houses, and shopping malls in Baiziwan. Some people even compare Baiziwan to the "Hollywood" in China.
In the years between 2013 and 2017, a huge centripetal force was formed in Baiziwan, where the cultural and entertainment atmosphere gradually gathered into a tower, bringing together models, Internet celebrities and celebrity dreamers who aspire to fame. There are also many MCN companies that will also come here with a pair of eyes to explore the potential of ordinary people to look for business opportunities.
It was the best time in Baiziwan.
The next pivot
Today's Baiziwan has lost the fulcrum of Internet celebrity, and naturally has less of the previous anger. But looking around, it's not all depressed.
In an internet celebrity shop called "Xunqi Coffee", which was only established in May last year, there is a huge lawn outside the pure white coffee house, where screenwriters, producers and directors can often be seen, where the next work is brewed together.
During the visit, there was a crew of 4 people who were busy discussing their next work here.
Wang Yichun, a director who lives here, even built a Baiziwan Literary and Art Group, which is a film and television practitioner in the nearby Goldenport International, Apple Community and other communities, "We will go to shoot short films and talk about creativity, and we are very happy." ”
The constant gathering of film and television people makes Baiziwan still a place where the cultural industry is densely packed. From the subway station Baiziwan to the people's vegetable basket, there are pieces of Jingyuan Art Center, Ledi Cultural and Creative Park, Laijin Cultural and Creative Industry Park and so on. In addition to performing arts agencies, modeling companies and film and television media companies, there are not a few publishing companies, wedding photography companies and design companies.
A few kilometers to the west, near the Today Art Museum, there is also the more well-known Beijing 22nd Courtyard Street Art District.
For practitioners in the field of pan-culture and entertainment, Baiziwan is still a place where sparks of thinking can collide.
According to Xiaoyang, the manager of Xunqi Coffee, customers who come here are magazine shoots, small video shoots, and Internet celebrities. However, more consumers in Xunqi Coffee Shop are still ordinary customers. Or if you dress up more ins style, it is also the nature of the play ticket.
In terms of business, Xunqi Coffee is one of the few stores that is not affected. "There are a lot of people coming on weekdays and weekends, because the epidemic has increased a lot of freelancers, and for our coffee shop, which is better scenery, suitable for shooting short films, and suitable for office, it may be that the number of flexible workers has increased, and more people have come."
Xiaoyang also talked about how she likes the inclusive feeling of this area of Baizi Bay. "The customers of Xunqi Coffee are not only young people, entertainment workers and some white-collar workers in the workplace, but also many uncles and aunts."
This is also the place where Burning Finance has experienced it after more corners of Baizi Bay.
Before the dine-in closure, in the spicy temptation store, the manager Binbin saw many customers every day from the Internet technology company a few minutes walk away - Blue City Brothers. As the first stock of the global pink economy, mainly serving the LGBTQ population, Blue City Brothers chose to settle in Baizi Bay, which must also be because of the sea and rivers here.
Although the proportion of young people living in the Baiziwan area may have decreased due to the decrease in internet celebrities. However, located in the core business district of Baiziwan, the young customer base is still very large, and for the large commercial shopping centers here, there is still a relatively broad space for development.
Hopson Hui, which opened in 2018, is a good example. Opened before the epidemic, it is located in Jiulongshan Subway Station, and brings together many trendy play shops including Cool Tide Play, Tomato Pocket, Bubble Mart, etc., and is also long at using multi-city linkage to hold IP carnivals for young people, creating online and offline linkage activities, etc. Hopson Hui still maintains high passenger flow for a long time after the epidemic. According to the official introduction of Hopson Hui's parent company Hopson Chuangzhan Exhibition, in 2021, the occupancy rate of its Hopson Hui product line has remained at 98% since its opening.
For new shopping malls that have long since broken through the conventional pattern of daily life consumption in the region, the introduction of immersive activities and exhibitions is the secret of success for shopping malls such as Hopson Hui, whose target customers are 18-35 years old. At present, after the silent period, Hopson Hui, which has a solid passenger flow foundation, will usher in its recovery relatively quickly.
Although because of the difficult dream of star-making and the reduction of the cost performance of renting, Baiziwan may no longer be the preferred place for Internet celebrities to live, and the brands here cannot easily break the circle by relying on Internet celebrities to punch cards; located in the corner of Chaoyang, Baiziwan is also like other places in the region, temporarily pressing the pause button of cultural entertainment, and it takes time to wait for it to open. But it's still adjacent to the CBD, where young people are crowded, and it's still an open, inclusive place that sucks fresh blood, with a strong social dna.
Resources:
"The occupancy rate is double low, and IDMALL in Fangyuanli is trapped in a vicious circle", source: Beijing Business Daily.
*Binbin, Xiao Ai, Xiao Yang, and Wang Lei are pseudonyms
*Disclaimer: In no event shall the information herein or the opinions expressed herein constitute investment advice to any person.
This article originated from the combustion dimension