Tang-clad maidens with flowing long skirts and graceful young masters with light steps, celestial beings from the Moon Palace encountered by chance while strolling through the bustling streets of the High Tang period holding lanterns, and the immortal poet "Li Bai" reciting poetry to the moon while holding a folding fan... At 6 p.m. on October 6, the Mid-Autumn Festival, stepping into the "Chang'an Twelve Hours" themed block south of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, Shaanxi, felt like an instantaneous time travel back to the Mid-Autumn night in Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty over a thousand years ago.
The "Chang'an Twelve Hours" themed block uses digital intelligence to empower immersive experiences, constructing a Tang-style world for visitors that interweaves reality and illusion, tangible and touchable. Visitors, like ancient Chinese people, admire the moon, patrol the streets, recite poetry in response, eat mooncakes, and enjoy palace banquets. Through interactions with actor NPCs, they experience the ceremonial sense of how ancient people celebrated festivals.
As China's first immersive Tang-style street-life block, "Chang'an Twelve Hours" uses digital technology to allow visitors to easily "time-travel" to the High Tang period. Among these, the "Tang Resident ID Card," through virtual map scenes, can not only instantly generate videos of tourists visiting any famous scene in Chang'an City but also allows for treasure hunts, quiz games to win prizes, and playing games. The "AI Face-Swap Camera" added autumn templates, enabling visitors to quickly obtain a set of professional-level ancient-style portraits with one click. Meanwhile, with the "Tang Chao Workshop · AI Travel Photography," visitors upload photos and travel back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty in one second, becoming classical beauties or elegant young masters stepping out of a painting. Without repeatedly adjusting poses and expressions, AI face-swapping + video synthesis technology can generate a cinematic-quality personal ancient-style short video with one click, allowing visitors to truly become the protagonists in the Tang story.
Resplendent and dazzling, history comes alive
Chen, a tourist from Jiangsu, has a special fondness for Tang culture. During this National Day and Mid-Autumn holiday, she specifically came to Xi'an and spent several days visiting the Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City, Da Tang Furong Garden, the site of the Daming Palace of Tang, and the Huaqing Palace of Tang. In Chen's view, only by standing in Chang'an City can one truly feel the brilliance and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
On the Mid-Autumn night, Chen specifically changed into the Tang attire she had long desired and spent two hours applying Tang-style makeup. When she first stepped into the "Chang'an Twelve Hours" themed block, the scene before her suddenly gave her an illusion of stepping into a painting. Chen told Wen Wei Po that if the feeling at the historical sites was the weight of history, then in "Chang'an Twelve Hours," this history actually came alive.
"Guiyue Ankang (May you be safe and well this Laurel Month)!" While lost in thought, a "native resident" of Chang'an coming towards her performed a standard crossed-hands salute and offered sincere blessings. The subsequent grand ceremony made Chen feel even more unexpectedly honored. "Officials" of the Great Tang stood in line performing the crossed-hands salute to welcome her, and Tang maidens invited her into the city with the 'Rainbow and Feather Dress Dance.'
Stepping onto the streets of Chang'an, surprises awaited at every turn. "First, I encountered the ethereal 'Chang'e' and the 'Jade Rabbit' carrying a lantern. It felt like a sudden time travel." What Chen didn't expect was that although they had never met before, the two NPCs treated her like an old friend, chatting with her from the moon to mooncakes, and even setting a date for next Mid-Autumn Festival.
What made Chen happiest was unexpectedly encountering "Li Bai." Seeing the Tang-clad beauty with fluttering skirts before him, "Li Bai" was suddenly inspired. He not only recited his own timeless masterpiece but also engaged in poetic couplet matching with Chen and other tourists. "A slice of moonlight over Chang'an," "The sound of pounding clothes from ten thousand households," "If there were no moon on this night," "The autumn would pass in vain"... After several rounds, Chen and the others were "outnumbered" and ran out of poetic lines, unable to continue.
"Wish everyone Guiyue Ankang! I shall follow the wind and depart..." Amid the cheers of the crowd, "Li Bai" drifted away elegantly.
Palatial feast, full of ceremony
Returning to the streets of Chang'an, Chen unexpectedly encountered the full NPC parade, available only during the National Day and Mid-Autumn holiday. "Talented scholars, beautiful ladies, literati, merchants from foreign lands walked while singing, clapping hands, and interacting with you, dancing together joyfully. The prosperous Tang scene was thrilling."
Before she could fully emerge from the magnificent and grand spectacle of the Tang atmosphere, the major Mid-Autumn themed performance commenced that evening. During the performance, Chang'e gracefully soared into the sky, showering blessings, wine maidens vividly recounted Mid-Autumn legends, and beautiful dances recreating Tang Dynasty Mid-Autumn customs were performed in succession. Acrobatic dancing perfectly blended with Mid-Autumn legends, showcasing great creativity. After admiring the splendid moonlight on the streets, enjoying the lively Mid-Autumn interactions, and watching the grand Mid-Autumn show, Chen couldn't wait to arrive at the scene of the "Feast and Music of the High Tang."
"Admiring the moon, patrolling the streets, matching poetry, eating mooncakes, and then 'singing while drinking' makes it perfect," Chen noted that on Mid-Autumn night, one must experience the sense of ceremony in High Tang dining. Entering the "Feast and Music of the High Tang," Chen felt as if she had burst into a Tang palace banquet. Musicians from the Jiaofangsi (Music Bureau in the Tang Dynasty) played music to welcome guests, maidens led the way and served tea. At this moment, she felt she was no longer a tourist but a guest attending a banquet in the High Tang era.
"Throughout the entire banquet process, there was not only a full sensory experience of drama, dance, instrumental music, special effects, and interaction, but also opportunities to recite poetry with 'Li Bai,' discuss tea with 'Lu Yu,' learn etiquette with Tang officials, and even some tourists were personally 'summoned to sit' by the Emperor." Simultaneously, the palace banquet replicated the Tang-era practice of divided seating and individual servings for banquets, with each seat including a set of 8 delicacies. Chen remarked with emotion that the visually pleasing delicacies offered a taste of the High Tang Mid-Autumn flavor with every bite.
Interweaving ancient and modern
Chen mentioned that the Mid-Autumn activities at "Chang'an Twelve Hours" are not simple historical replication or imitation. Instead, they perfectly integrate the ancient charm of the High Tang period into modern life. Every step is tradition, yet every glance reveals the romance of the interweaving of ancient and modern.
"We combine 'technology + culture and tourism + performances + scenes + slow travel + trendy play + light and shadow + experience' and other elements to create new scenarios, new formats, and new experiences for cultural tourism consumption. This allows visitors to change from 'viewing' to 'entering the play'," said a staff member of "Chang'an Twelve Hours."
The block continuously excavates and innovatively interprets the symbols of China's excellent traditional culture, deeply integrating their essence with the cultural, commercial, and tourism formats. This Mid-Autumn Wonderful Night, through comprehensive upgrades in scenes, performances, and technology, not only significantly enhanced the visitors' sense of participation and fulfillment but also demonstrated in practice the strong momentum of "culture empowering tourism."
(Source: Wen Wei Po; Journalist: Li Yangbo; English Editor: Darius)
Related News:
Deepline | Price vs. service: Why some HK people are returning from Shenzhen's eyewear market
Comment