[Video provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

Themed "Tonight is the Night", the 2024 Shanghai Night Festival kicked off on the evening of June 6, with the launch of 100 special activities for summer nights. These activities span various categories, including shopping, dining, exhibitions, entertainment, tourism, sports, and reading.

For the first time, the festival, which began in 2020 and has been held four times, will last for about four months, from June to September. This means it will extend from the Double Five Shopping Festival (late April to end of June) until the Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season (July to October).

Shanghai tops Chinese cities in nighttime vitality

[Photo provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

Shanghai has consistently ranked first in nighttime vitality among 337 cities at and above the prefecture level nationwide for several years, according to the 2024 Night Economy Index for Chinese Cities released at the opening ceremony of the festival.

As of the end of 2023, Shanghai had 2,810 bars. Throughout the year, the city screened 295,200 night films, the highest number in the country.

100 nighttime activities

[Photo provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

Featured nighttime activities will include nights at museums and zoos, sports nights, e-sports nights, as well as special events at terraces, parks and waterfronts.

To promote nighttime consumption, the Bailian Group will develop the "Bailian Night" brand by hosting activities at its landmark commercial districts. They will include night shopping, art markets, nighttime shows and exhibitions, night runs, and night yoga, according to Shi Xiaolong, vice-president of the group. Shi also revealed that the group will issue 150 million yuan in consumption vouchers.

Book lovers can also find places to go at night. The Peace Library, Shanghai's first 24-hour park library, will pioneer an innovative around-the-clock service model of "not closed on Mondays and open all night". In August, the library will open Shanghai's first night reading space that integrates low-carbon exhibitions, eco-friendly reading, and a green lifestyle.

Additionally, Shanghai will launch 100 interactive activities at 80 boutique terraces. Shanghai Wild Animal Park will also introduce night tours during the summer.

Foreign dream makers of nightlife in Shanghai

[Photo provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

At the opening ceremony, five expats shared their stories of enjoying nightlife in the city.

Christian Devillers, executive director of Fotografiska Shanghai, expressed his love for Shanghai, which boasts an international lifestyle with many artists from home and abroad. Fotografiska Shanghai, a space for visual art, is open until 11 pm every day, allowing people to view exhibitions, have a drink, and even practice yoga in some exhibition spaces, adding to the unique charm of Shanghai at night. Devillers hopes to turn the Suzhou Creek area where his museum is located into a great place to visit at night.

Devillers is one of five expats featured in a documentary released at the opening ceremony, which chronicles their stories of enjoying nightlife in the city. They hail from the United States, Japan, France, and Australia.

The four others are: Viola Iida, actress and rehearsal director for Punchdrunk's "Sleep No More" in Shanghai; Camden Hauge, founder of the Happy Place Hospitality Group and a founding partner of the SOCIAL SUPPLY event agency; tenor and soprano saxophonist Alec Haavik, who has lived in Shanghai for 19 years; and Shingo Sasaki, a top-rated bartender at the celebrated Shanghai cocktail bar Sober Company.

Since the beginning of this year, 38 percent of foreign visitors have chosen to enter China through Shanghai, greatly boosting the city’s inbound tourism economy.

To provide better services to foreign visitors, Found 158, a sub-venue of the night festival, will launch a seven-week sports and entertainment activity focused on Euro 2024, inviting international travelers to watch football games while enjoying the charm of the city.

Found 158 hosts nearly 20 restaurants and bars from around the world. This year, in addition to bilingual menus and services, they have added multilingual services in languages such as French and Spanish to meet the diverse language needs of global travelers.

Additionally, catering merchants there have added foreign currency POS machines and allowed consumers to use international versions of Alipay and other electronic wallets.

Integration of commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and exhibitions

[Photo provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

Financial institutions have launched various promotions to help spur consumption during this year’s festival.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank will issue millions of yuan in nighttime consumption vouchers to credit card holders for nighttime spending at more than 100,000 merchants.

For the first time, the festival has teamed up with Ant Group's Lan Hua Huo channel to launch the "Night Shanghai 66PASS" nightlife discount e-cards, featuring premium and fun city destinations and activities, introducing sports-themed consumption routes, and exploring various possibilities for promoting the integration of online and offline consumption.

The festival will further highlight the integration of commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and exhibitions.

Huangpu district has released a city walk map for nighttime consumption, offering seven routes: Happy Night Shopping, Gourmet Night Dining, Immersive Night Touring, Exciting Night Entertainment, Charming Night Shows, Cultural Night Reading, and Vibrant Night Sports.

UCCA Edge has introduced art creation to the streets and alleys for the first time, with an art map covering seven groups of artworks at six locations.

[Photo provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce]

Tencent Games will also launch an e-sports month in Shanghai. In collaboration with Valorant, it is organizing the Valorant Masters Shanghai 2024, China's first-ever international VALORANT Champions Tour event.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Wen Wei Po