Baoshan Riverside Hosts Grand New Year’s Eve Celebration with Fireworks, Drone Shows, and Packed Malls and Hotels
“It seems that everyone from all over Baoshan is here for fun. There are so many people!” a reporter overheard this remark at the Shanghai Sea World Mall at Baoshan Riverside. Following the grand reopening on September 30, Baoshan Riverside once again welcomed large crowds, with people flooding into the mall, hotels, and outdoor platforms in a festive atmosphere.
The area around Shanghai Sea World Mall in the evening [Photo by Wu Yue]
Packed Mall
At 7:23 PM, Mr. Niu and his friends were waiting for their table at a restaurant on the third floor of the mall. Seeing the sign indicating 118 tables ahead of them, he exclaimed, “What a mistake! We should have come earlier.” After rushing here after work, they didn’t expect the mall to be so popular.
It wasn’t just the two of them unable to get a table. The reporter walked from the first to the fourth floor and saw that almost every restaurant had varying lengths of queues. Even small shops selling snacks like braised foods and candied hawthorn skewers had lines stretching more than ten meters. Staff at tea beverage stores were busy with orders while apologizing to customers, saying, “We are sorry that if you place an order now, you have to wait for an hour…”
Packed escalators [Photo by Wu Yue]
A large number of tourists flocked to Baoshan Riverside for the “special program”. On December 18, 2024, Baoshan District announced its activities list for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, which attracted wide attention. The most anticipated events were the drone shows themed “Legend of Sea” and the fireworks shows themed “Baoshan Beauty”. In recent years, the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal has been hosting performances featuring grand and futuristic vibes on holidays.
Many people now consider watching the fireworks at Baoshan Riverside an important part of their holiday celebrations. Before the evening performances began, the Shanghai Sea World Mall, located closest to the cruise terminal, was the best place for a rest. Visitors could enjoy food, play with their kids at amusement attractions, or visit a bookstore, all of which made the evening even more exciting.
Experienced Mr. Bai and his wife arrived at the mall before 5 PM. “We parked near the Baoyang Road Metro Station and walked 2.2 kilometers to the Riverside,” they said. Noticing that some areas around Baoshan Riverside had traffic restrictions, they decided to park outside and walk in, hoping for a memorable New Year’s Eve.
All Hotel Rooms Booked
In addition to the mall entrance, Baoshan Riverside also has some excellent viewing spots—river-view rooms at the Cordis Shanghai Seaworld and the CM+ Serviced Apartments at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal.
To secure the “prime spots,” tourists started a “room reservation battle” early. A representative from the Shanghai Wusongkou Culture and Tourism Investment Group explained that once the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day events were announced, booking calls for hotel rooms at Baoshan Riverside poured in. On the evening of December 31, all 274 rooms at Cordis Shanghai Seaworld were booked, as well as the river-view rooms of the Lijiang International Cruise Hotel, TUI Blue, and CM+ Serviced Apartments.
A representative from Cordis Shanghai Seaworld told the reporter that not only were the hotel rooms fully booked on the 31st, but both the Chinese and Western restaurants were also overbooked, and the second-floor banquet hall was booked for corporate year-end parties thanks to the popularity of the festive events in Shanghai International Cruise Tourism Resort. “To accommodate a large number of guests, all 150 of our staff are on duty,” the representative said.
A child playing with a mascot [Photo by Wu Yue]
CM+ Serviced Apartments was going all out to improve its services. A representative said that 60% of guests were families with children, and to ensure the children’s comfort and enjoyment, they had prepared a series of interactive activities. In the evening, staff dressed as the mascots “Yi Yi” and “Dun Dun,” two adorable cartoon cats, appeared in the lobby and quickly captured the attention of the children. Some parents invited their children to take a photo with the lovable mascots.
Both hotel and apartment managers mentioned that a significant portion of the guests on New Year’s Eve were from Shanghai (Many families interviewed were from Minhang District, Huangpu District, and Pudong District). Interestingly, one mother shared that despite living in the Gongkang area of Baoshan District, she had no hesitation in booking a room. She wanted her daughter to enjoy an unobstructed view of the river and the performances while relaxing in the comfort of an air-conditioned room.
Guests enjoying the performance in a hotel restaurant [Photo by Wu Yue]
“Since we’re here, we’ll wait for the sunrise.”
At 9:08 PM, the drone and fireworks shows concluded, and the visitors waiting along Baoshan Riverside were still longing for more. Some young people said they would stay to wait for the New Year’s countdown, while others joked, “Since we’re here, we’ll wait for the sunrise.”
Watching the sunrise at Wusongkou is a key tourism project promoted by the Shanghai International Cruise Tourism Resort. Baoshan District, with guidance from the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, launched the Wusongkou Sunrise Index on December 26, forecasting whether it would be suitable to view the sunrise in the next three days based on key weather factors like precipitation, cloud cover, and visibility. Besides, a map of sunrise observation points at Wusongkou was also released to help tourists find the best viewing spots.
To promote Wusongkou Sunrise Viewing tourism and create a festive atmosphere, Baoshan District will also hold a naming ceremony for Wusongkou Sunrise Square at the Wusong Paotaiwan National Wetland Park’s bird-watching platform on January 1 at 9 AM.
“In Shanghai, there are many places where people can watch the sunrise, so why do people come to Wusongkou? To answer this question, we need to put more effort into content supply and services” said a representative from the Shanghai Wusongkou Culture and Tourism Investment Group. They also plan to collaborate with the Baoshan District Archives and Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History to explore the connections between literary and cultural masters like Hu Shi, Yan Fu, Zhu Ziqing, Chen Yinke, Xu Zhimo, Shen Congwen, and Zhu Kezhen and Baoshan, to highlight its rich cultural heritage.
In terms of service, the Shanghai Yangtze Estuary Science and Technology Museum in the Wusong Paotaiwan National Wetland Park will undergo overall upgrades, serving as a service center for tourists watching the sunrise. “Many cycling and running enthusiasts enjoy the tour at Baoshan Riverside. Currently, we are in contact with the Baoshan District Distance Running Association and plan to set up a shower station at a suitable location for runners,” the representative said.
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