Mountain city of Chongqing launches dazzling nightscape plan to spur tourism, boost consumption

The bustling metropolis of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, known as the “Mountain City,” has launched a large-scale lighting plan to create an even more dazzling night-time cityscape aimed at boosting tourism and consumption.

The city, known for its steep terrain, spectacular skyscrapers and towering river bridges, gives planners unusual scope to shape an even more distinctive skyline view.

As part of the project, a more than 16-square-kilometer core area has been designated, where brightness, color and timing are synchronized to form a spectacular nightscape.

“This graphic shows the brightness zones. In the past, buildings operated their lights independently. Now, we’re moving toward an integrated system,” said Chen Yuanke, deputy director with Chongqing Municipal Urban Lighting Center.

The lighting design is not just horizontal but also vertical, taking full advantage of the city’s mountainous landscape.

“In the core area, the glow of city lights forms the backdrop, with road lighting as the main thread and building illumination as the centerpiece, creating an overall atmosphere,” said Li Huadong, deputy director of Lighting Management Division at the Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau.

The advanced technology behind the coordinated lighting project means the city administration can now control in real time exactly when and how the decorative lights turn on and off.

Officials say that Chongqing aims to fully utilize the potential of its increasingly popular nighttime spectacle as a driver for consumption and tourism.

“At the core of our planning is economic growth. The nightscape isn’t just something to look at. It’s also designed to drive consumption,” said Chen.

“Last year, Chongqing attracted around 500 million tourist visits. Consumer spending reached 558.5 billion yuan, up 7 percent from the previous year,” said Guo Peijun, deputy director of Content Production Center of Chongqing TV.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, said on Monday that the relationship between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) stands at a new historical starting point.

Xi arrived in the DPRK capital of Pyongyang earlier on Monday to begin a two-day state visit at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, marking his first trip to the country in seven years.

Delivering a speech at a welcome banquet hosted by Kim, Xi pointed out that China and the DPRK, linked by mountains and rivers and sharing a common future, have seen their traditional friendship passed down across generations and grow ever stronger over time through the test of the evolving international landscape.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, and the China-DPRK relationship stands at a new historical starting point, Xi said, noting that he has reached important consensus with Kim during his visit.

From the strategic perspective of the future and destiny of socialism, both leaders have agreed to seize the general trend of the times, respond to the shared aspirations of the two peoples, strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, enhance people-to-people bonds, promote the high-level development of China-DPRK relations, jointly open up brighter prospects for the socialist cause of both countries, and contribute to the continuous progress of human society, Xi said.

The successful convening of the Ninth Congress of the WPK this year has made strategic plans and major arrangements for the long-term development of the Party and the country’s cause, ushering in a new period of comprehensive development of the DPRK’s socialist cause, Xi said.

As good neighbors, good friends and good comrades, the Chinese side sincerely wishes that, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the WPK headed by General Secretary Kim, the DPRK people will successfully accomplish the goals and tasks set by the Ninth Congress of the WPK and make constant new achievements in the socialist cause of the DPRK, Xi said.

On behalf of the WPK, the government and the people of the DPRK, Kim extended the warmest welcome to Xi on his visit. Kim said that Pyongyang was filled with an atmosphere of friendship on this special day as the DPRK’s Party, government and people warmly welcomed their most distinguished guest.

Noting that Xi’s first overseas trip of the year had brought him to the DPRK, Kim said this fully demonstrated the great importance Xi attached to developing relations between the two parties and the two countries, and constituted the most valuable support for the DPRK’s socialist cause.

Noting the meeting with Xi came nine months after their previous meeting, Kim said that during this meeting, they reached important consensus on further advancing DPRK-China relations with new contemporary connotations in light of new changing circumstances, and exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern, which will surely accelerate the development of the DPRK-China friendship with profound historical traditions, and contribute to peace and stability in the region and the world.

The DPRK people take heartfelt joy in the remarkable achievements made by the brotherly Chinese people, Kim said, expressing belief that under the leadership of the CPC with Xi at its core, the great Chinese people will surely create greater achievements in building a great modern socialist country in all respects, realizing the Second Centenary Goal, and completing the new journey toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.