Apple posts English version of video promoting its new West Lake store in Hangzhou, China
Apple recently commissioned Wang Dongling to create a mural in celebration of the grand opening of its new West Lake retail store in Hangzhou, China, this weekend. To promote the event, it also released a video featuring the renowned calligrapher and his creation on its Chinese website.
And now, it has also posted the video on YouTube with English subtitles for people like me whose Chinese is a little rough.
In the video, which is embedded below, Wang Dongling reveals that the characters surrounding the Apple logo in his mural form a poem about West Lake in Hangzhou, a city, he says, that’s both traditional and modern. Titled “Praising West Lake in the Rain,” the poem reads:
Shimmering water on sunny days
Blurred mountains through rainy haze
West Lake is like the beauty, Xizi
With light or heavy makeup, always beautiful
Apple is set to officially open its new West Lake store at 9 a.m. local time on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Wang Dongling says that the store will “add another highlight” to Hangzhou.
For its part, Apple says that the work he created “celebrates the rich history of art and culture in Hangzhou and the exciting future the new Apple Store will be a part of.”
If you can’t see the video embedded above, please click here.
Apple seems to be alluding to its planned retail expansion in China, its most important growth market.
Apple currently operates four other stores in Shanghai, four more in Beijing, and one store each in Chengdu, Wuxi, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, and Chongqing.
A week after holding the grand opening of its West Lake store, Apple is scheduled to officially open its second store in Chongqing.
According to its retail chief, Angela Ahrendts, the company plans to open five new stores in China before the Chinese New Year this year, which falls on Feb. 19.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in October last year that 25 additional stores would be launched within the next two years in China.
See also: Apple takes us behind the scenes of its holiday-themed ad, ‘The Song,’ ‘Change is in the Air’ and in Apple’s new ad campaign for iPad Air 2, and Apple’s new TV ad highlights ‘Voice Text’ feature of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
