Coffee by day, light-and-shadow by night - Songjiang Coffee Golden Week and Light Festival open simultaneously

On September 30, the 4th Songjiang Coffee Golden Week kicked off in the Thames Town of Fangsong Subdistrict, “dual-festival linked” with the 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival’s Songjiang sub-venue themed “Light Awakens Yunjian, Shadow Glorifies the Metropolis,” stringing together the day and night of the National Day holiday with coffee and light-and-shadow to create an immersive autumn consumption feast of “day coffee, night shadow.”

It is reported that the 4th Songjiang Coffee Golden Week is guided by the Songjiang District Commission of Economy and Informatization and the Fangsong Subdistrict Office, and hosted by Shanghai Songjiang New City Investment & Construction Group, running through October 4. The 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival’s Songjiang sub-venue is guided by the Songjiang District Greening & City Appearance Bureau and others and hosted by Shanghai Songjiang New City Investment & Construction Group, running through October 7, open daily from 10:00 to 21:00.

Coffee aroma: a feast of 68 booths

On an autumn day in the civic square of Thames Town, Fangsong Subdistrict, the coffee aroma drifted half a street away on the breeze from Huating Lake.

According to the Songjiang District Commission of Economy and Informatization, this Coffee Golden Week plans three themed zones with 68 booths in total: 32 booths in the civic-square specialty-coffee zone, 20 in the islands camping-coffee zone, and over 10 in the Little Times Plaza studio-signature zone. The specialty-coffee zone is fully upgraded, with champion-grade brands such as 666 Coffee, Balloonist Coffee, Dream House, SIMPUR COFFEE and BEAN ELEMENT on site staging champion latte-art shows; over ten Songjiang local specialty brands — Wangli Coffee, Mings Coffee, Tiandi Lixin, Funan Coffee, Go Coffee, Tingpao Coffee and more — move in collectively.

“From dark-roast espresso to light-roast pour-over, visitors can stroll cup in hand and taste flavors from different origins and roast styles,” said a relevant official of the Songjiang District Commission of Economy and Informatization. Thames Town sits within the Songjiang University Town area, and every National Day holiday many students come in groups, holding signature coffees and taking photos in front of the British-style architecture.

The experience of tasting coffee in Thames Town goes far beyond the coffee itself. As the event host, a relevant official of Shanghai Songjiang New City Investment & Construction Group told the reporter that during the event, the town’s large and small islands will serve as the camping-coffee zone, with pet parties set among the lake light and tree shadows; the studio-signature zone at Times Plaza launches film-tie-in signatures, and a limited cultural-creative market displays classic-film themed stamps; inside the creative-design industry source, a coffee DIY workshop leads visitors to make coffee soap and coffee brooches.

The event also launches a “Songjiang Coffee Map,” where visitors with consumption receipts can enjoy discounts at partner stores across the district. It is understood that the Wenhui Road distinctive commercial block in Songjiang gathers a large number of quality independent cafés; the young foot traffic of Songjiang University Town keeps this block vibrant and supplies the Coffee Golden Week’s most stable consumer base. In Songjiang’s countryside, cafés such as Huhuangli in Huguang Village, Maogang Town, Punan, blend Jiangnan water-town scenery, tie-dye ICH and local farm produce into coffee creation;

Light relay: 10 points light up Songjiang’s night

After nightfall, the splendor of Thames Town continues. As the 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival launches, the exterior walls of the civic-square buildings in Thames Town turn into a giant screen, where a 300-second 4K-resolution 3D Mapping light show unfolds in four acts — prologue “Gathering Light · Songjiang,” Act I “Awaken · Rebirth,” Act II “Roots · Yunjian,” Act III “Smart Creation · Co-prosperity” — weaving Songjiang’s thousand-year cultural vein through light-and-shadow storytelling.

According to the Songjiang District Greening & City Appearance Bureau, the 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival’s Songjiang sub-venue adopts a “1+X” matrix, with one main exhibition area at Thames Town and ten linked points — Sijing Ancient Town, Shanghai Film & TV Park, Guangfulin Cultural Relics Site, Cangcheng Historic Area, G60 Sci-tech Cloud Corridor, Shanghai Happy Valley, InterContinental Shimao Wonderland Songjiang, Yunjian Hall, and the Source of the Pujiang River.

Among them, Sijing Ancient Town features the ICH “shadow-puppet show,” with the Anfang Pagoda light show performed nightly from 18:00 to 20:00; Shanghai Film & TV Park builds the immersive light-and-shadow block “Sweet Dream Huanghe Road”; Guangfulin launches water-borne molten-iron fireworks and a drone light show; the G60 Sci-tech Cloud Corridor lights up the “Let’s Chase the Light 3.0” edition.