High temperatures, Olympic Games bring residents out at night

Sizzling temperatures have failed to deter night diners and travelers as cultural and tourism sales heat up in summer.

Coupled with the recent high temperatures, the vitality of night-time consumption is warming up along with the weather.

Catering businesses are accelerating the layout of the night-time ecosystem, launching new products and services, and enriching the dining experience during the late-night hours.

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in fierce swing, China's hotpot giant Haidilao said the number of diners who arrived after 9pm has increased significantly this summer.

It has launched several new dishes, snacks, and desserts, such as bullfrog fish hotpot, spicy crayfish, chicken bone meat and rice crust potato platter, and mango pomelo sago ice bean curd pudding for late-night snack, or yexiao, diners.

"Since the beginning of summer, we have received a significant increase of customers after 9pm, and during some peak times, people needed to queue," said Guo Jia, head of Haidilao's outlet at Jing'an Joy City.

"Most of the diners are young people, and beer and specialty drinks are both a good match for hotpot and a cooling option in summer, thus their order rate is also on the rise at night."

Bullfrog is particularly favored among post-1990s residents, and the spicy flavor is especially popular among young consumers as a soup base, accounting for as high as 41.8 percent of total orders.

The business hours of Haidilao's camping stores have also been extended, and the number of guests after 9pm has also increased significantly.

Meanwhile, in the past month, orders for one-person hotpot during the late-night dining period have grown 17 percent compared with last month, according to Haidilao's statistics.

A craze of night tours

Night tours have proved to be attractive options this summer as well.

To avoid the scorching heat of the day, people are flocking to tourist attractions at night, enjoying the coolness and tranquility under the night sky.

The Bund, one of the most iconic tourist attractions of Shanghai, is packed with people on summer nights, drawn by the dazzling and spectacular night scenery along both banks of the Huangpu River.

"It is really amazing and the view is totally different from the daytime," said Chen Jing, a traveler from Suzhou, neighboring Jiangsu Province, who made a recent trip to Shanghai with her two sons. "Also, night is a better time to visit due to cooler temperature."

Scenic spots in Shanghai have launched diversified night tours and activities this summer.

Guyi Garden in Jiading District is blossoming vibrantly with the ongoing 11th Shanghai Lotus and Water Lily Exhibition.

Tourists can have fun strolling through gufeng (old Chinese-style) bazaars, where they can practice calligraphy, make lacquer fans, drink lotus tea, and release lotus lanterns into the river at night.

"I have visited the garden numerous times in the daytime, but night tours offer a fresh and unique experience and we are able to enjoy traditional Chinese melodies and the charms of intangible cultural heritage," said Liu Hui, a resident living near the garden.

Night safaris have been launched at Shanghai Wild Animal Park and Shanghai Zoo, allowing visitors to observe the behavior of animals at night.

Shanghai Zoo has planned 38 night safaris this summer and nearly 70 slots for the first weekend were fully reserved in seconds of when they went online.

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park in the Pudong New Area has extended its opening hours to 9pm this summer, and scheduled fireworks shows.

Camps have been set up at its pavilions for families with children, enabling people to sleep alongside swimming fishes.

The park operator said there were many visitors at night.

Chongqing, Beijing, Changsha, and Shanghai are among the most popular summer night tourist destinations, according to online travel operator Tongcheng Travel.