The bustling metropolis of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, known as the "Mountain City," has launched a large-scale lighting plan to create an even more dazzling night-time cityscape aimed at boosting tourism and consumption.

The city, known for its steep terrain, spectacular skyscrapers and towering river bridges, gives planners unusual scope to shape an even more distinctive skyline view.

As part of the project, a more than 16-square-kilometer core area has been designated, where brightness, color and timing are synchronized to form a spectacular nightscape.

"This graphic shows the brightness zones. In the past, buildings operated their lights independently. Now, we're moving toward an integrated system," said Chen Yuanke, deputy director with Chongqing Municipal Urban Lighting Center.

The lighting design is not just horizontal but also vertical, taking full advantage of the city's mountainous landscape.

"In the core area, the glow of city lights forms the backdrop, with road lighting as the main thread and building illumination as the centerpiece, creating an overall atmosphere," said Li Huadong, deputy director of Lighting Management Division at the Chongqing Municipal Urban Manaement Bureau.

The advanced technology behind the coordinated lighting project means the city administration can now control in real time exactly when and how the decorative lights turn on and off.

Officials say that Chongqing aims to fully utilize the potential of its increasingly popular nighttime spectacle as a driver for consumption and tourism.

"At the core of our planning is economic growth. The nightscape isn't just something to look at. It's also designed to drive consumption," said Chen.

"Last year, Chongqing attracted around 500 million tourist visits. Consumer spending reached 558.5 billion yuan, up 7 percent from the previous year," said Guo Peijun, deputy director of Content Production Center of Chongqing TV.