REDSTAR Hangzhou May 2019

广 告 • 特 辑 // FEATURES /
THE QIANTANG
AT NIGHT
By Ruslan Khasanov
My first acquaintance with the
Hangzhou light show was in the
first couple of days after arriving
in the city. As a newcomer, I was
looking for an apartment, and I found one
with windows facing the Qiantang River
and downtown Hangzhou. I was standing
and looking out the window, admiring the
view, not expecting anything unusual when
suddenly, the downtown started to shine
and glitter. It seemed alive like one gigantic
organism that revealed its inner beauty to
the world; I was stunned. Considering that
I have travelled halfway around the world
and have seen quite a few things, it is not
so easy to impress me, but this immense
light show was something marvellous. It felt
like I was in some futuristic science fiction
movie. At that moment, it was clear what
was going to be the number one attraction
on my ‘must-see’ list of Hangzhou.
A couple of days later when I finally set-off
to explore the city. I went to West Lake
during the daytime, and in the evening,
I went to see the show that was stuck in
my head, which I was eager to see again. I
arrived at the Citizen Center subway station
and found a spot where I could observe the
whole scene, with the fountains and the
city around it, and suddenly it began. The
fountain started dancing to the Chinese
traditional folk music, then shifted to opera
and modern pop songs afterwards. All of
that worked alongside the moving pictures
on the buildings. The images were about
Chinese culture, Chinese achievements
in different spheres, and some famous
slogans. Sometimes there were separate
pictures on each building, and sometimes
one or two images or a video sequence
stretched across the whole downtown.
It was a truly amazing experience!