Virtual Playground

China's first offline "digital festival", LAN Story, attracts some 100,000 visitors, mostly young people, to the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai in August. They play all kinds of games, socialize with friends and attend live concerts at the event. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Visitors to China's first offline local area network, or LAN, party, get together for cyber games and other forms of esports in Shanghai. China Daily reports.

Fu Cexiang has an answer for people who think playing video games is "just a way to kill time".

"It helps me to find friends who share the same interests. It explores and develops our potential," he says.

Fu, 32, is the business development director of live-broadcasting platform Zhanqi TV.

He was also recently involved in what was touted as the country's first and largest offline "digital festival", LAN Story.

The event comes from the LAN party concept, a gathering of gamers who are linked to each other digitally through a local area network or LAN.

The idea is to encourage participants to bring their own computers and devices to share and mingle.

There are also live concerts, competitions and arts events related to the theme.