Bright Lights across the River

It is 9 p.m. and the entire city of Heihe on the other side of the Amur River lights up. All the high-rise riverbank buildings suddenly sparkle in a wide array of bright colours and a laser light dances across the sky. With pop music blasted across loudspeakers, the Chinese city has taken an air of festivity. Yet this is an ordinary day: two hours later the lights and the music will go off, only to return the next day at the same time.