City's upgraded urban lighting system will be more functional and artistic

As the Chinese New Year is around the corner, the streets in Chongqing are getting more beautiful and festive with various lighting decorations, attracting visitors from both home and abroad.

By 2022, however, it won't just be festival lanterns attracting attention, as the city is set to be become a beacon for urban lighting systems. Boasting a unique natural landscape, Chongqing's upgraded system will help create a world-class nighttime cityscape view.

"In a few years, Chongqing urban landscape lighting will become a new attraction of the city," said Zhang Shuyu, deputy director of Chongqing city management bureau, at a forum in early January discussing the city's nighttime landscape and lumia art.

"We are going to use the lights to tell the stories of Chongqing in order to promote local tourism and a moonlight economy."

Chongqing, a metropolis of more than 30 million people in Southwest China, is famous for its three-dimensional geographic location as the city is surrounded by rivers and mountains.

In recent years, it has become a hot travel destination as many people are drawn by its delicious food and natural scenery.

The city's downtown looks futuristic with its skyscrapers, while at the same time, with some 3,000 years of history, it still preserves local culture and lifestyles.

Largely built on mountains and surrounded by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, it is often called the mountain or river city. After building more than 4,500 bridges in recent years, the largest number in China, it is also referred to as the "city of bridges."

In October 2018, the local government issued a concrete plan to upgrade its urban landscape lighting, especially along the banks of the two rivers, major bridges and avenues.

This year, the four major business quarters across the rivers will put up grand light shows to showcase the city's natural beauty and history.

"Chongqing's night view will be artistic, attractive and interactive," Zhang said.

In addition to traditional river boat night tours, the city is developing new night bus tours for tourists to explore the city.

Visitors can go to the top of the Nanshan Mountain and Erling Park to have a panoramic view of the Yuzhong Peninsular, go to the Chongqing Opera House on the north bank and Yanyu Park on the south bank to look across the water, or take the Yangtze River Cable Car to enjoy the night view from above.

"Chongqing has very unique landscape and you will have different views from different angles," lighting expert Lin Chiming was quoted as saying by Chongqing Morning Post on the sidelines of the forum.

Lin is a partner and Asia Operations Director of Brandston Partnership Inc, an architectural lighting design firm based in New York.

He has worked on a number of projects in China, including Chongqing's landmark Raffles City which is currently under construction, Wheelock Square in Shanghai, the Summer Palace in Beijing and the RitzCarlton Hotel in Guangzhou.

Though the city has put a lot of effort into decorating the banks along the two rivers in recent years, "It still needs an overall design to better present the city landscape," he added.

In his eyes, Chongqing has more features than just mountains and rivers.

"The Hongya Cave, bridges, light railways and old city walls are also very interesting," he said.

As one of the hosts of the forum, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing has already set up a department for lumia art. Only two Chinese universities offer such a major.

"Now, urban lighting has more functions and it has become a major form of public art," said Han Jing from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing and director of Chongqing Contemporary Art Center.

"Our university will provide more local talent in this field."