Recently, Cong Liang and Yoyo, postgraduate students of the 2025 intake for the Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Education and Management programme at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), co-founded the startup "Hong Kong Wenyunhengtong". Their innovative product, the "AI God of Fortune", has emerged prominently through the in-depth integration of culture and technology. This project not only demonstrates the vibrant vitality of EdUHK students in interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship, but also serves as a vivid practical case of the University’s commitment to advancing industry-university-research integration and implementing the educational philosophy of President John Lee Chi-Kin.
Guided by the President’s Philosophy: Nurturing Interdisciplinary Innovative Talents
Professor John Lee Chi-Kin, President of EdUHK, has always emphasized that education in the AI era should focus on cultivating "future skills" such as critical thinking, creativity and interpersonal skills. He advocates integrating artificial intelligence into teaching, building an interdisciplinary innovation hub to empower students to tackle complex challenges. The birth of "Hong Kong Wenyunhengtong" is a vivid practice of this educational philosophy.
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Under the professional guidance of Dr. Ip Tak Ping, Cong Liang and Yoyo have systematically studied knowledge related to Chinese cultural heritage education and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) project management. EdUHK’s distinctive interdisciplinary teaching model and digital literacy training system have equipped students with a cultural studies background with the ability to apply technological tools, laying a solid foundation for innovative exploration at the intersection of "culture AI". Combining the findings of their research on the cultural and creative industry at Hong Kong’s religious venues and paying close attention to the stress faced by students coming to study in Hong Kong, the team has innovatively launched the "AI God of Fortune" — a product integrating "religious IP AI trendy toys" that combines cultural communication, emotional healing and cultural tourism consumption in one. This innovative achievement not only fills a gap in Hong Kong’s relevant cultural and creative sectors, but also vividly embodies EdUHK’s educational goal of "nurturing innovators capable of navigating complex challenges".
Full Support from the University: Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem for Entrepreneurial Support
The steady development of the "AI God of Fortune" project is inseparable from the all-round support of various departments of EdUHK, which has built a comprehensive industry-university-research support system featuring "academic guidance, resource connection and practical empowerment".
On the academic front, Dr. Ip Tak Ping has provided professional guidance on the construction of a cultural database for the project to ensure the accuracy and authority of its content, and also assisted the team in connecting with major Hong Kong religious venues and ICH projects, including Fung Ying Seen Koon (香港道教蓬瀛仙館), Tsz Shan Monastery (慈山寺) and Man Mo Temple (文武廟). In the process of studying traditional culture and religious wisdom, the team identified the development shortcomings of the cultural and creative industry at Hong Kong’s temples. In contrast to the popular cultural and creative products on the mainland such as those from the Palace Museum and the prayer beads from Yonghe Temple (雍和宮), Hong Kong, a popular cultural tourism destination, still has enormous potential for development in religious cultural and creative products. Drawing on their academic learning and project experience, the team developed the "AI God of Fortune" based on a large language model. Designed as a plush doll pendant with an embedded AI chip, it features daily mottos, wisdom stories, mindfulness guidance, fortune prediction and other functions, creating a personal and portable spiritual companion for users. This product not only enriches the range of cultural and creative products at temples and opens up new scenarios for the dissemination of religious culture, but also alleviates young people’s stress and anxiety through religious philosophy. Furthermore, it builds a new consumption scenario for cultural tourism through the "religious IP AI trendy toys" model, injecting new vitality into the development of Hong Kong’s cultural tourism industry.
In terms of entrepreneurship incubation, the University’s Centre for Pre-Incubation and Outreach (CPO) has played a core role. It has accurately connected the team with resources, coordinated on-campus R&D venues, recommended high-quality supply chain manufacturers, and provided professional guidance on business planning and funding applications, helping to efficiently transform product ideas into marketable outcomes and drive their development. "EdUHK is like a caring parent that gives us the confidence to walk a steadier and further path in cultural entrepreneurship," the team said, a sentiment that truly reflects the concerted efforts of EdUHK’s faculty and students in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Cong Liang also stated that he is fortunate to study at EdUHK and have met accomplished mentors such as Dr. Ip Tak Ping, the passionate CPO Director Mr. Donny Siu and all the teachers at the CPO. With the care and support from all sides, the team will continue to optimize and innovate its products, uphold EdUHK’s core value of social care, carry forward the legacy of religious culture, and contribute the youth’s strength to the development of Hong Kong’s cultural tourism industry.
Aligned with National Strategies: Empowering Cultural Heritage Tourism and Sino-Western Exchanges
The development direction of the "AI God of Fortune" project is highly aligned with the national strategies for cultural heritage protection, the deep integration of culture and tourism, and the high-quality development of the cultural sector. The General Office of the State Council’s Several Economic Policies for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Culture explicitly supports the integration of culture and technology and the development of large models in the cultural field. The Cultural and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area also emphasizes "shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture through tourism" to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.
As an important hub for cultural integration between the East and the West, Hong Kong has allowed "Hong Kong Wenyunhengtong" to leverage this geographical advantage. The startup activates traditional cultural resources through AI technology, enriches the forms of cultural and creative products at Hong Kong’s temples, and injects new technological vitality into the cultural tourism industry. At the same time, the project integrates Confucian wisdom, Taoist philosophy and the spirit of inclusiveness in Hong Kong’s diverse culture into the "AI God of Fortune", creating an innovative channel for Chinese and foreign tourists to understand Chinese culture. It thus plays a positive role in promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the East and the West, and supporting the construction of a "Cultural Bay Area".
Diversified Future Layout: Building a Benchmark for Industry-University-Research Integration
At present, "Hong Kong Wenyunhengtong" has launched a diversified development layout: it has reached an intention for customized product cooperation with a major temple in Hong Kong, is steadily advancing its landing plan in the mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and will further expand the application scenarios of its products. In terms of product R&D, the team will launch a series of graded iterations and build a shared AI technology platform, gradually forming a virtuous development cycle of "R&D - profit - giving back to the University".
As a benchmark project for the integration of science, technology, culture and industry-university-research at EdUHK, the development of "Hong Kong Wenyunhengtong" not only demonstrates the unlimited potential of students with non-technical backgrounds such as cultural heritage in innovation and entrepreneurship, but also highlights EdUHK’s remarkable achievements in interdisciplinary talent cultivation and the construction of an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Going forward, EdUHK will continue to deepen the integration of industry, university and research. Relying on the rich experience and resources of platforms such as the CPO, the University will provide all-round and professional support for more teachers and students with entrepreneurial dreams, promote the efficient application of innovative achievements in social development, and continue to contribute EdUHK’s strength to the national cultural inheritance and development as well as the mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.
Centre for Pre-incubation and Outreach (CPO)
10 February 2026
