Night tour in Gansu merges light, sound

Lights, music, shadows and stone combine for an impressive nighttime show at Danxia Scenic Area. [Photo by Ren Kaiming/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The nighttime tour of the Tulin Valley in Zhangye's Danxia Scenic Area in Gansu province — featuring an immersive experience of light, shadow and sound — will open soon, according to the area's managers.

Danxia, which means "rosy cloud", is a landform of reddish sandstone that has eroded over time into mountains,curvaceous cliffs and unusual rock shapes.

The project is headed by Wang Zhigang, director of the Department of Information Art and Design at Tsinghua University's School of Fine Arts. Individual directors of the lighting, sound and music segments of the show are top talents who have participated in the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Total investment in the night tour project was about 65 million yuan ($9 million).

The experience employs stunning new-media technology and digital art and is based on the idea of balancing culture with nature.