"Tears of the West Lake" is a digital projection project created by a team of students from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. The project retells the story of Lady White Snake reminiscing under the Leifeng Tower one night in the wind and rain.

It's an interactive projection art project that creates an immersive experience with a traditional Chinese style. The project conveys emotion with the help of 2D and 3D technologies, special effects, and music.

The project enables people to relive tradition while experiencing modern technologies and helps people explore the possibilities of culture and the future.

The story of the White Snake

The legend of the White Snake, also known as Lady White Snake, is an ancient Chinese folktale that tells of a white snake spirit named Bai Suzhen (白素贞), who falls in love with a mortal man named Xu Xian (许仙). Even though they come from different worlds, they get married and live happily together.

However, their happiness is short-lived when a Buddhist monk, Fahai (法海), insists that Bai Suzhen shouldn't be with Xu Xian because she is not human. He uses his magical powers to separate the couple, and Bai Suzhen is imprisoned in Leifeng Pagoda.

After 20 years in the pagoda, Bai Suzhen is finally freed and reunited with Xu Xian.

The legend is seen as an example of a story about true love and sacrifice and the importance of understanding and accepting different cultures and beliefs.

The story is set in the West Lake (Xihu) area of Hangzhou, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

According to the legend, Bai Suzhen and her sister, the green snake spirit Xiaoqing (小青), were living in the West Lake area when they encounter Xu Xian, who sells herbal medicine. Today, the West Lake area is a popular tourist destination, with many landmarks and attractions associated with the story.

One such place is the Leifeng Pagoda, which is said to be where Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian were separated by Fahai's magic and is also the spot where "Tears of the West Lake" takes place.

The legend of the White Snake has been adapted into various forms of art, including plays, movies, and TV programmes. It remains an important part of Chinese folklore and is still told and retold by storytellers and artists worldwide. The story is part of the cultural heritage of Hangzhou and continues to be celebrated and commemorated in various ways.

A digital retelling

The team members of "Tears of the West Lake", Yuyi Liu, Yuran Guo, Yunyuan Shao, Xin Wang, and Ke Zhang, are all students in the BA Digital Media Arts programme at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The project involves two innovative designs. The first is a human figure that appears at the start of the show, which the team created by replacing ordinary animation with chroma keying. With the help of the green screen in the school's studio, the team members danced, filmed the performance, and integrated the special effects with projection art. Team member Ke Zhang served as the choreographer.

The other innovative design allows the audience to interact with the story through their phones. The team accomplished this by creating two apps that link mobile phones and computers to enable real-time responses on the computer for mobile interactions. Audience members can virtually pluck strings on their phones, reproducing the ripples shown on the projection screen with music to reawaken Lady White Snake's memories.

"We combined scene-building design and cutting-edge media technologies to help create an immersive experience. We wanted to show people the charm of traditional Chinese folklore by making them feel like they were in the story," says the team leader, Yuran Guo.

"Tears of the West Lake" bridges the past and present, showing that even ancient stories and legends can be brought to life with modern technologies.

"Digital media offers a powerful tool for cultural preservation and storytelling. By using technology to reimagine traditional stories, we can create something both familiar and new that speaks to a wide range of audiences," says Fang Liu, supervisor and lecturer at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The project also promotes cultural understanding and appreciation by bringing attention to the legend of the White Snake and the cultural heritage of Hangzhou. It is an example of how art and technology can work together to create new forms of storytelling and to preserve and celebrate cultural heritage.

"The challenge we faced was to balance between art and technology, aesthetics and function, and between interactivity and narration," says team member Yuyi Liu.

"But we believe that only by exploring new forms of expression can we better preserve and develop traditional culture," says Guo.

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