In China, the term makerspace can mean many different things; some unrecognisable to people used to a European or American use of that word. But Chaihuo X.Factory would be familiar to any maker coming from outside China, with a co-working desk space, machine shop and woodshop, and an enviable selection of tools.

Chaihuo is perhaps most famous as the the site of a visit by Premier Li Keqiang in 2015. It’s that visit that helped give makerspaces in China visibility and validation as centres of entrepreneurship.

In this episode, I speak with Violet Su, community manager at Chaihuo. We talk about how it became famous as the poster child for makerspaces in China; gender in makerspaces; and the unique appeal of Shenzhen.

This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen programme. It is a Lighthouse production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games.