By Su Qian and Liu Chengcheng | October 14, 2026
Ahead of the National Day holiday, the 2026 Beijing Animation Week took place, featuring a main venue at the Beijing Exhibition Center alongside various satellite locations across the city. At the Songzhuang International AI Animation & Gaming Creative Industrial Park in Tongzhou—one of the event’s satellite hubs—”Xiao Shi Fu” (Little Lion of Fortune) made its official debut. Designed by a team led by Beijing Film Academy professor Sun Lijun (pen name: Fan Beilu), this 8-meter-tall inflatable installation sits at the park entrance, its paw raised in a gesture of bestowing good fortune. With its soft, rounded, and adorable appearance—rooted in the thousand-year-old tradition of the “auspicious lion”—it has quickly become a new urban landmark, drawing crowds of visitors eager to snap photos.
Within the creative lineage of Fan Beilu’s team, “Xiao Shi Fu” represents another significant addition to their series of public art IPs. During the 4th Beijing Animation Week in 2025, the team unveiled a 19.3-meter-tall “Drowsy Cat”—a giant, slumbering orange tabby. The installation garnered over 1 billion views online, contributing to a total of 3 billion media impressions for that year’s event, and went on to win a Gold Award in the Public Art & Installation category at the U.S.-based MUSE Design Awards. In November 2025, the 23.03-meter-tall “Fu Bao” (Fortune Leopard) was unveiled at the 25th Beijing Film Academy Animation School Awards; inspired by the 2,303-meter peak of Mount Ling in western Beijing, the piece utilized warm orange tones to explore themes of ecological civilization. From the “Drowsy Cat”—which captures the urban desire for relaxation—to “Fu Bao,” which focuses on the protection of nature, and now “Xiao Shi Fu,” which anchors traditional folklore in contemporary expression, these works form a clear thematic progression: “healing emotions—protecting nature—inheriting culture.”
As part of this year’s “1+7+N” organizational framework for the Animation Week, “Xiao Shi Fu” served as a narrative bridge, connecting the main venue with the satellite event locations. The main venue at the Beijing Exhibition Center in Xizhimen features five distinct zones—TOP IP, Urban Partners, Creators, Designer Toys, and Illustration—showcasing the cutting-edge achievements of China’s animation industry. Meanwhile, the Songzhuang (Tongzhou) satellite venue, anchored by the International AI Animation & Games Creative Industrial Park, hosts a dual exhibition: a retrospective of a century of Chinese animation alongside a showcase of AI-driven visual innovation. Here, classic works such as Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, and Big-Eared Tutu converge with new creations empowered by artificial intelligence. The event also marked the launch of the full-chain animation and games ecosystem in Beijing and the inauguration of the International AI Animation & Games Creative Industrial Park, highlighted by the establishment of the China Animation Association’s AIGC Studio. Standing at the park’s entrance, “Xiao Shifu” (Little Lion of Good Fortune) serves as a visual emblem of this spirit of “upholding tradition while embracing innovation.” Within the exhibition hall behind it, the century-old legacy of the “Chinese School” of animation meets the future of AI-era creativity; the figure itself stands as a vivid example of a traditional folk symbol reimagined through contemporary design.
With thirty years of artistic heritage, Songzhuang is now rapidly transforming into a hub for digital cultural tourism, animation, and gaming. The arrival of “Xiao Shifu” here not only signifies the local artistic community’s embrace of the animation industry but also beautifully intertwines the auspicious symbolism of the traditional Chinese lion—a cultural icon with a history spanning millennia—with the innovative vitality of Beijing’s sub-center. (Su Qian, Liu Chengcheng)
