New Friends are About to Debut! He Xi & Shui Yun’er Take You on a Journey Across the Canal West
Source：Canal West 2025-12-02
Designed respectively by Master Han Meilin and POP MART, the two major Grand Canal cultural IPs—He Xi and Shui Yun’er—are soon to make their appearance along the Canal West.
He Xi: The Adorable Little Guardian Spirit of the Grand Canal
Design Highlights: Its rounded head resembles a dewdrop; its eyes shimmer like starlight reflected upon emerald waves; a soft blush brightens its cheeks, and a gently upturned mouth lends it an innocent, endearing charm. Encircling its body is a flowing “ribbon of water-rhythm,” abstracted from Han Meilin–style water and cloud motifs. Light as gauze and curling like mist, it resembles both a celestial artifact and a spiritual band of waves shaped from the Canal’s current, imbuing He Xi with ethereal elegance and dynamic vitality.
Interaction and Mission: He Xi is both guardian of the Canal and messenger of its culture. Its ribbon can transform with different scenes—into scrolls, waves, or bridges—linking past and present.
Its playful expressions and gestures (such as cupping water or resting its chin in its hands) create a warm bond with younger audiences. Through the power of cuteness, He Xi awakens cultural memory and conveys the Grand Canal’s spirit of “inclusiveness, symbiosis, and unceasing flow,” nurturing generations like water itself.
Shui Yun’er: The Energetic Spirit Who Commands the Five Waterways
Core Symbol: The mysterious xuan-fish token holds the secret of “the convergence of all waterways.” It is both the supreme treasure governing aquatic beings and the key to the Canal’s cultural lineage.
Design Interpretation: The star-shaped pupils mirror a spirit born of the cosmos—beneath its playful exterior lies a heart devoted to protecting millennia-old civilization. Its water-commanding powers crystallize into the Water-Transport Talisman, shaped as a xuan-fish, symbolizing “waterborne stewardship.” The talisman it holds is, in fact, the final fragment of the ancient Transport Decree. Clad in shimmering fabric woven from the Canal’s waters, Shuinyun’er appears as a child cloaked in rippling light—protected by the collective memory carried along the Canal’s thousand-year journey. Its Water Scroll serves as a magical treasure chest: it unfurls into a traditional Chinese scroll that reveals scenes of the Grand Canal, with five colors merging to symbolize the convergence of the five river systems.
The Grand Canal Cultural & Creative Store is about to open simultaneously on the Canal West. A series of He Xi and Shui Yun’er IP derivative products will be released one after another. When the time comes, be sure to visit the Canal West and take home your very own Grand Canal surprises!
He Xi: The Adorable Little Guardian Spirit of the Grand Canal
Origin and Evolution: He Xi draws its inspiration from the Canal’s ancient “water-guardian beast.” Its name conveys the auspicious meaning of “joy born of the river’s blessing,” embodying the vision of safeguarding the water veins and nurturing all living things.
Design Highlights: Its rounded head resembles a dewdrop; its eyes shimmer like starlight reflected upon emerald waves; a soft blush brightens its cheeks, and a gently upturned mouth lends it an innocent, endearing charm. Encircling its body is a flowing “ribbon of water-rhythm,” abstracted from Han Meilin–style water and cloud motifs. Light as gauze and curling like mist, it resembles both a celestial artifact and a spiritual band of waves shaped from the Canal’s current, imbuing He Xi with ethereal elegance and dynamic vitality.
Interaction and Mission: He Xi is both guardian of the Canal and messenger of its culture. Its ribbon can transform with different scenes—into scrolls, waves, or bridges—linking past and present.
Its playful expressions and gestures (such as cupping water or resting its chin in its hands) create a warm bond with younger audiences. Through the power of cuteness, He Xi awakens cultural memory and conveys the Grand Canal’s spirit of “inclusiveness, symbiosis, and unceasing flow,” nurturing generations like water itself.
Shui Yun’er: The Energetic Spirit Who Commands the Five Waterways
Identity Revealed: Shui Yun’er, the lively droplet-spirit of the Grand Canal, is chosen by the essence of five waterways. It wields the Water-Transport Talisman, which unites the powers of China’s great river systems—dancing upon Yangtze waves, shaping the Yellow River’s clay into life, summoning pearls from Huaihe River koi, stirring tidal rhythms from Qiantang River, and painting fluid melodies with Haihe River swells.
Core Symbol: The mysterious xuan-fish token holds the secret of “the convergence of all waterways.” It is both the supreme treasure governing aquatic beings and the key to the Canal’s cultural lineage.
Design Interpretation: The star-shaped pupils mirror a spirit born of the cosmos—beneath its playful exterior lies a heart devoted to protecting millennia-old civilization. Its water-commanding powers crystallize into the Water-Transport Talisman, shaped as a xuan-fish, symbolizing “waterborne stewardship.” The talisman it holds is, in fact, the final fragment of the ancient Transport Decree. Clad in shimmering fabric woven from the Canal’s waters, Shuinyun’er appears as a child cloaked in rippling light—protected by the collective memory carried along the Canal’s thousand-year journey. Its Water Scroll serves as a magical treasure chest: it unfurls into a traditional Chinese scroll that reveals scenes of the Grand Canal, with five colors merging to symbolize the convergence of the five river systems.
The Grand Canal Cultural & Creative Store is about to open simultaneously on the Canal West. A series of He Xi and Shui Yun’er IP derivative products will be released one after another. When the time comes, be sure to visit the Canal West and take home your very own Grand Canal surprises!