As night falls, colorful lights turn on one after another.

Entering the ancient city of Zhengding in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. Snack stalls are set up, amusement facilities are spinning, and tourists from all over are bustling.

The first stop to ascend the ancient city of Zhengding is the South City Gate.

Standing at the central axis and looking into the distance, ancient temples and pagodas can be seen arranged in sequence.

Ancient streets and ancient buildings are in picturesque disorder. They are ablaze with lights and extremely beautiful.

"Standing here, you can see four towers at a glance. Each one is a national protected cultural relic. It's very photogenic at night!" Liang Chenhao, a photography enthusiast, holds his camera and tirelessly changes postures to find shooting angles.

"I am deeply attracted by this kind of beauty. I always feel that I can never get tired of taking pictures. I have to ‘check in’ many times a year!"

Walking down from the South City Gate, not far away is the Rongguo Mansion.

This was once the shooting location of the 1987 TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber". Now it has long become a "internet-famous check-in place".

The lighting landscapes such as ground light and shadow and aerial scrolls created by relying on the classic poems of "Dream of the Red Chamber" attract many tourists.

Outside the south hall inside the mansion, on the stage in the shape of pomegranate flowers, the performing arts program "Spring Dance of Pomegranate Flowers" is staged wonderfully, telling the story segments of "Dream of the Red Chamber".

At the other end, in front of Rongqing Hall in Jia Mu's courtyard, the actors perform drinking games and finger guessing while interspersing with the dance performance of sleepwalking in a fantasy realm.

"Good! Good!" Some people couldn't help applauding.

Under the stage, tourists were surrounded in three layers inside and three layers outside.

Children were sitting on the shoulders of adults and were fascinated by what they saw.

When they were unprepared, tourists were also pulled onto the stage by the actors to participate in the performance and experience the culture of "Dream of the Red Chamber" on the spot.

"The experience is so great. It's like falling into a time tunnel and being transported into 'Dream of the Red Chamber'!" Bai Hua, a tourist from Shanxi Province, is a die-hard fan of "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Since this year, the Rongguo Mansion scenic area has invited professional teams.

Centering on the architectural space layout of the Rongguo Mansion, through light and shadow landscaping, performing arts interactions, and characteristic products, the classic stories of "Dream of the Red Chamber" are deeply integrated into the scenic area.

Nineteen characteristic theme scenes such as floating light pavilions and cranes greeting guests have been created, and interactive performing arts have been launched to fully meet the immersive tour needs of tourists.

In recent years, the ancient city of Zhengding with a history of thousands of years has deeply explored the local characteristic history and culture, aimed at the night economy track, and created night tour products of different forms, transforming cultural and tourism resources into development momentum and bursting out new vitality for development.

At 9:30 pm, beside Longxing Temple, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, Wangquan Ancient Street with black bricks and dark tiles is bustling with popularity.

There are long queues at the doors of internet-famous restaurants.

The street is ablaze with lights and full of laughter.

In Yunshang Hanfu Store on the street corner, Wei Qianyun, the clerk, has dexterous fingers that fly up and down.

In a short while, the bun of customer Sun Lin is done.

Wei Qianyun said that during peak periods, she has to receive hundreds of tourists who rent ancient costumes in a day.

Nearby, more than 40 similar Hanfu stores have gathered.

Arranging hair and applying floral decorations... Dressed in a ruqun, Sun Lin, after dressing up, gently pushes the door and emerges gracefully, perfectly integrating into the night scene of the ancient street.

While taking pictures, she sighed: "Appreciating ancient temples and pagodas during the day, taking Hanfu portrait photos at night, and still finding time to watch performances and taste delicious food. The schedule is full."

"Day and night, never tired of playing. Once you come, you don't want to leave. After leaving, you still want to come back." Huo Zhe, a member of the Party Leadership Group of Zhengding County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Sports and Tourism, said that Zhengding fully takes into account the needs of tourists, cultivates new forms of cultural tourism, and launches a series of characteristic cultural tourism activities such as the parade of twelve flower gods, Hanfu grand ceremony, ceremony of music and rites, and interactive ancient costume acrobatics, presenting tourists with delicious "cultural feasts" of the ancient city.

At 10 pm at night, at the Zhengding Small Commodity Night Market, tourists are shoulder to shoulder, a sea of joy.

Mutton kebabs, milk tea, stomach-wrapped meat, hot dry noodles...

A wide variety of characteristic delicacies with rich flavors and colors are favored by diners and attract many tourists from other provinces to come and check in.

"The taste is good, the atmosphere is good. What we eat is the liveliness." Luo Yi, a tourist from Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, has seen videos of Zhengding Night Market on the internet.

He has been looking forward to it for a long time. During the holiday, he and his friends came here especially to "check in".

The small night market bursts with great vitality.

In 2023, the business volume of Zhengding Small Commodity Night Market exceeded 300 million yuan.

"From the initial dozens of stalls, it has slowly expanded and stabilized to more than 500." Huang Jingli, deputy general manager of Zhengding International Small Commodity City Group, said. "At most times, the daily passenger flow can reach more than 60,000 people."

Behind the prosperous night economy of Zhengding is the continuous optimization of services.

"The parking here is free. There are drinking water and charging kiosks around the scenic area, and public toilets can be seen everywhere on the street." Tourist Bai Hua is full of praise for the supporting services of the ancient city of Zhengding.

"Not only can you have a great time playing, but also feel at ease, satisfied and comfortable."

To develop cultural tourism, Zhengding shows full sincerity: 18 landscape kiosks for direct drinking water are installed around the scenic area, more than 900 warm cushions are installed on leisure benches, and electric vehicle charging piles are installed in the ancient city.

The toilets of government agencies and institutions are opened. Tourist toilets are built to a high standard. New parking lots are built and parking spaces are marked on sidewalks.

At present, there are 44,800 free parking spaces in the county.

The local government has also established a night market management mechanism. Departments such as traffic police, urban management, and fire departments work together to provide refined services and continuously optimize the night tour experience of tourists.