City & Tourism
Weibo's Dayanzai wanders around Beijing, linking the “Beijing flavor” content theme with how to take part in the short video contest.
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01 / Background
The Flavor of Everyday Beijing category of the “Beijing Style” Short Video Contest needed a how-to-enter film for Weibo: it had to explain how to take part and also make viewers want to pick up their phones and record the city. A campaign slogan alone can’t answer “What can I film?”, so the project turned food, fashion, nightlife and craft into a set of specific Beijing scenes.
The campaign ran from December 2025 to February 2026, so the visuals needed the markers of winter, New Year’s Day and Spring Festival while showcasing Beijing’s image as a city. The final storyline has Dayanzai entering photorealistic street scenes: snowy hutongs, hot food, outfits and crafts first present everyday life worth recording, then lead into the hashtag and trending-list entry points on the phone.
02 / Creative Highlights
Introducing several content themes at once can easily confuse viewers. The red Dayanzai appears throughout the streets, restaurants and night markets, observing the city with his phone; however the scenes change, the same character ties them together and keeps reminding viewers that this is a Weibo campaign.
The flavor of Beijing had to come through in everyday details and also match the winter season of the campaign. Trees, costumes and festive scenes were all checked one by one; the snowy streets, heavy coats, chimney smoke, tanghulu and hot food in the final film give the “Beijing flavor” local character and match the very season viewers were living in.
The film first turns “Food, Style, Night, Craft” into visible city subjects, then connects to the campaign details through year-end photos, a fireworks countdown and the trending list on a phone. Following Dayanzai around, viewers learn what they can film and, at the end, see where to post and how to reach more people, so promotion and participation guidance are delivered together.
03 / Scene Breakdown
A quick montage of under four seconds sets out Beijing in winter, then Dayanzai appears on a cloud above the Central Axis, picks up his phone and brings viewers down into the hutongs and the opera house.
Snow in a red-walled gateway, an orange cat walking along a roof ridge, oven-roasted duck, a steaming pot at a night market, Peking Opera costumes, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven after snowfall: one image per second, so viewers first recognize Beijing in winter.
The word “Beijing” rises over a panorama of the Central Axis at sunset as Dayanzai floats into frame on a cloud and takes out his phone. The camera pushes in and the screen lights up with Weibo’s splash screen.
The scene shifts: Dayanzai walks through a snow-covered hutong behind an old man carrying a birdcage, then stands in an opera house hung with red lanterns. The caption introduces the “Beijing Style” Short Video Contest.
Four vertical cards pop up one by one against an orange-red background; Dayanzai reaches out and taps, and the camera dives into each section. Each theme becomes a specific Beijing scene, showing viewers what they can film.
The four cards, “Food, Style, Night, Craft,” pop up from the bottom and line up, each showing Dayanzai in one of the four scenes. Finally a red glove reaches into frame and taps, cutting into the first section.
The camera passes through a snowy street of time-honored shops and lands on Dayanzai by a window. On the table are roast duck, xiaolongbao, douzhi coffee and erguotou ice cream; he picks up the coffee and takes a sip.
Dayanzai walks through a hutong after snowfall as the people beside him change outfits every few steps: red-and-white sweaters, a red down jacket, a red scarf with a headpiece, menswear and womenswear alike, all winter looks you could actually wear out.
Lanterns stretch across the night market as an old craftsman tends a steaming pot of syrup beside rows of tanghulu. Dayanzai watches from in front of the stall, with young people in hanfu strolling the market behind him.
Dayanzai first blends into the night-market crowd, then the frame cuts to an old craftsman’s hands carving a Lord Rabbit clay blank bit by bit. Finally the craftsman hands the painted Lord Rabbit to Dayanzai.
This segment shows that the campaign spans New Year’s Day, bringing two New Year hashtags into the frame: first a year-end group photo that becomes a photo wall, then a rooftop fireworks countdown to 2026.
On a Spring Festival plaza, Dayanzai poses for a group photo with people in winter clothes and hanfu. With a click of the camera, the photo flies off and joins many everyday snapshots to form a wall, matching “#Give Yourself an Award for 2025#.”
Dayanzai stands with his back to the camera at the edge of a high-rise, looking out over the city at night. Fireworks spell out 3, 2, 1 in the sky before bursting into “2026,” and the glass curtain wall nearby reflects the same numbers.
These few seconds use real videos posted by creators on Weibo, flashing by in a four-panel grid to match the caption “Hundreds of top influencers lead the way, thousands of creators join in.” These visuals were not generated by us.
Four creators eat, explore and film Beijing in different places, flashing by to show that many people are already filming for the campaign, before handing the floor back to ordinary viewers.
The final segment returns to an ordinary family’s Spring Festival: Dayanzai makes dumplings and poses for a family photo, then the film explains how to take part—post a video with the hashtag for a chance to trend.
In a diagonal split screen, Dayanzai, wearing red mittens, sprinkles flour, scoops filling and pinches dumpling edges, flour falling on the board in rhythm with the captions.
In the kitchen, grandparents, parents and two children gather around the board making dumplings while fireworks go off outside. A hand holding a phone reaches into frame and captures the moment.
Dayanzai spreads his arms against an orange-red background as the Weibo trending list scrolls on the phone beside him, with the caption “Your story could make the trending list.”
The background turns pure white as Dayanzai holds a phone sideways in both hands toward the camera and asks, “Shared today’s news yet?”, before landing on the Weibo and Beijing Style contest logos.
04 / Storyboards & Final Frames
Shown in the order of the finished film: for each shot, what it shows, followed by the final frame used in the film. The opening montage and the creator videos have no final frames and are not listed here.
Shot 1.1
Above Beijing’s Central Axis in the winter sunset, Dayanzai floats on a cloud from the right side of the frame to the center.
Shot 1.2
The camera pushes in on the phone in Dayanzai’s hand as the screen lights up with Weibo’s splash screen.
Shot 1.3
Dayanzai walks forward holding his phone through a winter hutong and opera house: the trees are bare, snow covers the ground, and an old man in a thick padded coat carries a birdcage.
Shot 2.1
Four vertical cards are laid out on an orange-red background, each with one large character and Dayanzai in the matching scene. In the last frame a hand reaches in and taps, leading into the next shot.
Shot 2.2
Dayanzai sits by the window of a time-honored restaurant, with roast duck, xiaolongbao, douzhi coffee and erguotou ice cream on the table and a snowy street outside.
Shot 2.3
Dayanzai walks through a snowy hutong with fashion influencers as the people around him change outfits every few steps, all winter looks for men and women that keep legs and midriffs covered.
Shot 2.4
A narrow night-market street in the style of Nanluoguxiang, strung with lanterns. An old craftsman tends a steaming pot of syrup, with Dayanzai in front of the stall and people in hanfu strolling behind him.
Shot 2.5
A transition shot into the “Craft” section: people come and go in a snowy night market as Dayanzai walks among young people in hanfu.
Shot 2.6
First a close-up of the craftsman’s hands carving a Lord Rabbit clay blank; then, in a time-honored shop at dusk with snow falling, he hands the painted Lord Rabbit to Dayanzai.
Shot 3.1
On a snowy night at the Spring Festival plaza, Dayanzai stands with a group of people in winter clothes and hanfu, as someone in the foreground captures the moment with a camera.
Shot 3.2
The newly taken group photo lands in the center as many everyday snapshots fly in around it, forming a year-end photo wall.
Shot 3.3
Dayanzai stands with his back to the camera at the edge of a high-rise as fireworks spell out 3, 2, 1 in turn, mirrored by the glass curtain wall.
Shot 3.4
The countdown ends and the fireworks burst into “2026.”
Shot 4.1
A set of close-ups of sprinkling flour, scooping filling and pinching dumpling edges. Dayanzai wears red mittens, matching his character design.
Shot 4.2
Three generations gather around the board in the kitchen making dumplings while fireworks go off outside; then a hand holding a phone reaches into frame to capture the moment.
Shot 4.3
Dayanzai stands beside a phone with his arms spread wide; the trending list animation on the screen was composited in post.
Shot 4.4
Against a pure white background, Dayanzai holds a phone sideways in both hands toward the viewer, with no brand logo on the device.
05 / Results
We delivered a 71-second how-to-enter film for the Flavor of Everyday Beijing category, plus a 4K upscaled version. The film was played live at the launch ceremony of the “Flavor of Everyday Beijing” category on Beijing TV and premiered simultaneously on Weibo by official Beijing media accounts; the live broadcast drew 20K+ views on the day, and the main Weibo hashtag passed 14M reads.
Case Study
A contest how-to film can easily end up as a page of rules that happens to move.
Which hashtag to use, how many themes there are, what the prizes are: viewers may remember a few points by the end, but they won’t necessarily want to pick up their phones.
When we made this 71-second introduction for the Flavor of Everyday Beijing category of Weibo’s “Beijing Style” Short Video Contest, we took a different approach: Weibo’s Dayanzai explores winter Beijing first on the audience’s behalf.
He walks through snowy hutongs, time-honored shops, night markets and craft workshops, and finally holds his phone up to the viewer.
01
The client had a campaign plan and gave us the previous contest’s introduction film as a reference, but what this film would look like hadn’t been decided at the start.
We first wrote three directions: a game-style, level-by-level animation; a 3D animated explainer; and a 3D IP stepping into photorealistic street scenes. The client chose the third.
The reason was simple. However clearly the rules are explained, they can’t answer the question in the viewer’s mind: What can I film?
So we turned each of the four creative themes, “Food, Style, Night, Craft,” into a visible Beijing scene, and asked Weibo’s own IP, Dayanzai, to be the guide. Following him around, viewers learn what in this city is worth filming.
The client also made one specific request: the focus is Beijing’s image as a city, and no entertainment-related visuals should appear.
Dayanzai floats on a cloud above the Central Axis, takes out his phone and opens Weibo.
02
Dayanzai is a round 3D character, while the street scenes are photorealistic. When the two are combined, the biggest risk is that he looks pasted on.
We locked down the character first: red coat, yellow scarf and red gloves, with front, side and back views all defined. Every scene after that was generated with this same set of references, so he is the same Dayanzai in the hutong, in the restaurant and on the rooftop.
The second thing was the season. The campaign ran from December 2025 to February 2026, and the client reminded us it must not feel like summer. So we removed all the leaves, covered the ground with snow, put passersby in thick padded coats and down jackets, and added New Year’s and Spring Festival touches like couplets, lanterns and fireworks.
Before delivery, we also went through the character’s eyes and hands shot by shot: in one opening shot, Dayanzai’s eyes were slightly distorted, so we regenerated and replaced the whole segment.
03
The four sections first pop up as a set of cards, telling viewers how many categories there are. This pop-up animation was generated directly with AI start and end frames, saving a lot of time on hand-made animation.
After that, each section gets just one scene, but each scene is specific enough for viewers to film something similar:
Food — a table by the window of a time-honored restaurant, with roast duck and xiaolongbao plus new twists like douzhi coffee and erguotou ice cream.
Style — outfit changes all along the hutong. The client wanted outfits that kept legs and midriffs covered, and later wanted menswear added too, so we first created a batch of winter looks, then used multimodal video editing to swap the people in segment by segment.
Night — a tanghulu stall and a sugar-figure pot, with young people in hanfu strolling the night market.
Craft — a Lord Rabbit clay figure in an old craftsman’s hands, from carving the blank to painting it.
The same hutong and the same Dayanzai, with the people beside him changing outfits every few steps, menswear and womenswear alike.
04
“Post a video with the hashtag for a chance to trend” is the most important call to action in the film.
In the earliest storyboard, we used a rising staircase arrow to represent “trending.” The client felt it wasn’t direct enough: what viewers scroll through every day is the trending list, so that’s what they should see.
We first tried AI start and end frames to make two entries fly up the list, then composited the result into the phone screen. The direction was right, but AI still couldn’t reliably control the text and rankings on the list.
In the end, we left the phone screen as a green screen in the character shots and built the trending list as a real interface animation in After Effects: the #Beijing Style# and #Flavor of Everyday Beijing# entries climb to the top, while the other entries are dimmed to light gray so viewers see only these two at a glance.
Dayanzai spreads his arms as the trending list scrolls on the phone.
05
The campaign spanned New Year’s Day and Spring Festival, and the client wanted the film to include the two New Year hashtags as well.
We covered them with two images: a group photo on the Spring Festival plaza that flies off to join many everyday snapshots on a photo wall, matching “#Give Yourself an Award for 2025#”; and Dayanzai watching fireworks from a rooftop, matching “#Hello 2026#.”
For the fireworks segment, the client wanted a countdown first. So the fireworks spell out 3, 2, 1 in turn, then burst into 2026, mirrored on the glass curtain wall.
Spring Festival comes down to a meal of dumplings. When we generated the close-ups of Dayanzai making dumplings, the AI unexpectedly produced the full sequence of sprinkling flour, scooping filling and pinching the edges, so we went with it and turned it into a split screen. The character’s hands originally had separate fingers, so we changed them frame by frame into mittens to match Dayanzai’s design.
06
The film was ultimately played live at the launch ceremony of the “Flavor of Everyday Beijing” category on Beijing TV and premiered simultaneously on Weibo by official Beijing media accounts. The live broadcast drew 20K+ views on the day, and the main Weibo hashtag passed 14M reads.
For us, it proved one thing: A how-to film doesn’t have to recite the rules; it can start by showing people what they could film.
The platform’s own IP serves as the guide, and real city streets serve as the stage. The four creative themes don’t need to be read out; viewers have already seen them on screen.
AI let a small team create a dozen or so different Beijing scenes in about a week, and deciding when to generate with AI and when to switch to green screen and After Effects determined whether the key information in the film could be read clearly.
Dayanzai raises his phone in both hands and asks viewers: Shared today’s news yet?
FAQ
First lock down the character’s front, side and back views and outfit (red coat, yellow scarf, red gloves), then generate every scene with that same set of references. Before delivery, check every shot for areas prone to distortion, such as eyes and hand shapes: for example, in the dumpling shots, separate fingers were changed to mittens throughout, and one opening shot with slightly distorted eyes was regenerated and replaced in full.
This project was completed by a team of three. After the client picked the script, we delivered a complete first cut and revised version in about a week, followed by a 4K upscaled version, in time for the live broadcast of the category launch ceremony in December 2025.
It depends on whether the frame contains text that must be legible. For animations like the four sections popping up, we generated them directly with AI start and end frames; the trending list required accurate entries and rankings, so we left the phone screen as a green screen, built the interface animation in After Effects and composited it in, making sure #Beijing Style# and #Flavor of Everyday Beijing# clearly ranked at the top.
This film is 16:9 landscape, delivered as a 1920 × 1080 final film plus a 4096 × 2304 4K upscaled version, suitable both for playback at the live event and for posting directly on Weibo.
Approach
Starting from the contest rules, similar introduction films and Weibo’s usual style of expression, we settled on having Dayanzai walk into real street scenes. The character design was fixed first, and the background images, costumes and warm lighting for all four sections were built around the same winter campaign.
Winter shows in the bare branches, winter outfits and street scenes; the opera activity is set in an opera house, and the outfits include both menswear and womenswear. In the dumpling shots, Dayanzai’s outfit and mittens match his character design.
The trending section uses Weibo’s actual list interface, with the animation built in After Effects. The fireworks segment counts down before bursting into 2026, and the ending returns to Dayanzai raising his phone, tying the year-in-review and the call to post together in order.
More Work
Ideal for brand launches · public-sector communications · cultural-tourism campaigns · IP transformation · event openers · earnings visualization · social campaigns · AI workflow development
