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The Ming Hua, originally built in 1962 as a French luxury liner, has a fascinating history. Purchased by China in 1973, it now stands as the centerpiece of the Sea World cultural and tourism complex in Shenzhen—a bustling waterfront destination named by Deng Xiaoping during his visit. The vessel, now landlocked, blends the rich heritage of a bygone era with a vibrant coastal tourism landmark that integrates shopping, dining, culture, art, entertainment, and leisure. Ming Hua reopened in October 2025 after its renovation, and the immersive physical theater show, The Deal, premiered at the Minghua ship. This transformation mirrors Shenzhen’s remarkable evolution from a reform-era city to a vibrant cultural and lifestyle hub.
ETC lighting solutions played a key role in illuminating The Deal. The system installed includes the Gio console, Ion Xe Remote Processor Unit, and the Response SMPTE Gateway. The Gio console offers full control of conventional and moving lights, LEDs, and media servers, supporting multiple users with partitioned parameter control and full backup—exactly meeting the venue team’s requirements and solving issues they had with their previous consoles and fixtures.
According to The Deal’s local production team, “In selecting lighting control equipment, we compared major global manufacturers. Our key requirements included robust output independent of stacking, real-time hot backup for performance safety, portability for movement across locations, the ability to simultaneously use multiple lighting protocols, and intuitive interaction for designers. We ultimately chose the Gio console for mobile programming and the Ion Xe RPU for hot backup and playback. The consoles perfectly fit The Deal performance format, offering powerful programming and control capabilities that are a great tool for designers. The success of The Deal confirms that ETC was the right choice.”
The lighting system supports eight major performance scenes and has over 10,000 control channels. This includes around 500 professional stage lights and special effects equipment for performance lighting, and customized prop lighting featuring over 800 bulbs, 340 meters of light strips, and 39 full-color light boxes. The console enables easy and intuitive control of brightness, color mixing, and functions, making it feel like it understands the designers’ vision. All lighting data is visualized in a dynamic worksheet linked to scene drawings, showing lighting positions and parameters synchronized with actor and audience movement, seamlessly integrating technology with artistry.
During performances, the Ion Xe functions as the main control unit housed in the lighting cabinet. The Gio console manages moving light programming and acts as a backup control station. The Response SMPTE Gateway synchronizes audio and lighting triggers, ensuring flawless show operations.
The production team acknowledges ETC for its premium quality, innovative technology, comprehensive product range, and exceptional global service network. In addition, ETC lighting solutions beautifully showcase how heritage and innovation can combine to create unforgettable cultural experiences in Shenzhen.
