Waterdesign Water Scenery Night at Qu Yuan Temple: Illuminating the Beauty of the “Chu Ci” Through Light and Shadow Technology

This year marks the 1200th anniversary of the construction of the Qu Yuan Temple in Zigui County, Yichang, Hubei Province. As the creative designer and contractor for the temple's nighttime performance show, The Waterdesign Water Scenery Night Tour Research Center will utilize the ancient architecture of the Qu Yuan Temple to create an unprecedented light and shadow spectacle, "The Nine Songs Ceremony," celebrating the temple's 1,200th anniversary while offering visitors to the Three Gorges a magnificent nighttime sightseeing experience.

The Qu Yuan Temple in Zigui County, Yichang, Hubei, was first built in the 15th year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang Dynasty (820 AD). Located on Fenghuang Mountain in Maoping Town, Zigui County, it faces the world-renowned Three Gorges Dam. It stands as a key area where the protection and utilization of material and intangible cultural heritage in the Three Gorges reservoir region are fully integrated. Designated as a National Key Cultural Heritage Site in the sixth batch by the State Council in 2006, it stands as a landmark structure for cultural tourism along the Yangtze River Three Gorges.

According to reports, the Qu Yuan Shrine stands as a sanctuary of patriotic spirit and a spiritual landmark for the Chinese people. The primary consideration in creating this work was how to breathe life into the ancient architectural complex, conveying the essential meaning of this "spiritual landmark." By using the ancient structures as a giant screen, the fusion of static architecture and dynamic technology will bring the landmark buildings back to life. Using architectural light and shadow to convey Qu Yuan's spirit and the artistic beauty of the "Chu Ci," the spectacle requires no actors or special equipment for the audience to experience its visual wonder and profound emotional impact. Thus, the "Nine Songs Grand Ceremony" breaks free from stage limitations, creating a performance ‘space’ and "scene." By dissolving the boundary between audience and stage, the mountains, architectural complexes, plazas, surrounding landscapes, and even the audience themselves become integral parts of the performance. Spectators will feel immersed within the stage, traversing millennia to engage in a spiritual dialogue with the Chu Ci. Audiences will witness intricate "fluid sculpture" performances unfolding across the mountain gates, walls, and roofs of ancient architectural complexes; the ethereal romance between gods and mortals from the Nine Songs; and the mesmerizing interplay of water ballet with magical light projections... All these elements employ technological means to interpret the Chu Ci, revealing its accessible beauty to the masses.

The Nine Songs Grand Ceremony is the inaugural masterpiece of "Cultural Tourism Night Performance 3.0," jointly presented by Hubei Zigui Tourism Investment and Waterdesign Water Scenery. So what exactly is Cultural Tourism Night Performance 3.0? According to the introduction, the core of 1.0 cultural tourism performances centered on actors, while 2.0 focused on large-scale stage settings. In contrast, 3.0 cultural tourism performances no longer prioritize grand stages or performers. Instead, it integrates culture, technology, and immersive environments to create a unique audience experience. Version 3.0 better satisfies tourists' demand for multidimensional cultural tourism experiences while significantly reducing management and production costs for scenic areas. Content creation no longer relies on human performers or physical stages, instead relying entirely on digital production. This makes content more adaptable, greatly improves production efficiency, ensures freshness with repeated viewings, and effectively conveys the content IP of cultural tourism destinations.

Currently, China's tourism consumption is undergoing two major reversals. First, core resources are expanding outward in concentric layers, with "small-scale content and intimate settings" driving tourism development. Second, tourism products are shifting from destination-centric branding toward content IP transformation. It can be said that an era where content reigns supreme in the cultural tourism market is imminent. The strategy adopted by the China Science and Technology Water Feature Night Tour Research Center—empowering "Cultural Tourism Performance 3.0" through technological means—holds pivotal significance for the development of the cultural tourism night tour market.

It is understood that this production will soon premiere at the Qu Yuan Temple in Zigui, Yichang, Hubei Province. This marks another cultural tourism performance masterpiece by Beijing Waterdesign Water Scenery Technology Co., Ltd., following their projects at Gubei Water Town and Dubai's Palm Island night tour. The entire creative production employs the international team behind the Palm Island project, utilizing a film production workflow to deliver cinematic-level special effects. We eagerly await the arrival of this epic cultural tourism nighttime spectacle.