As night falls over Kaifeng city in Henan, China, the ancient capital of eight dynasties is reawakened by light. Christie 1DLP laser projectors now power Moon Over Kaifeng’s Southern Courtyard, a large-scale nighttime cultural performance that turns the city’s historic architecture, landscapes and waterways into a living, luminous stage.
Delivered and commissioned by Jianye Display, the immersive experience brings together 24 Christie laser projectors from the HS Series, Inspire Series and Captiva range. Projection mapping and live performance are woven into a unified narrative that animates a historic government courthouse and its surrounding lake, creating a signature cultural tourism attraction that supports Kaifeng’s vision of integrated culture, commerce and night-time economy development.
“This project demanded absolute precision at every stage, from structural validation to sub-millimeter calibration,” said Zhiqiang Tan, Project Manager at Jianye Display. “The Christie laser projectors used in the performances provided the brightness, reliability, and image consistency needed to transform complex architectural and natural surfaces into a cohesive, emotionally powerful nighttime experience.”
From concept through to commissioning, Jianye Display’s technical team addressed significant engineering and alignment challenges. Through meticulous calibration, projection focus variance was reduced to within 0.5 millimetres, ensuring crisp, consistent imagery across stone, gauze, water and landscape elements.
Each evening, the performance opens with the beat of drums and a dramatic 3D countdown at the city gate tower. Gauze screens, mountain backdrops, a monumental stone tablet and the imposing Heavenly King Hall are brought together in a carefully choreographed sequence, culminating in the iconic command of the legendary Song Dynasty judge Bao Zheng, also known as Justice Bao: “Ascend the court!”
At the heart of the production, the façade of the Heavenly King Hall becomes a vast “living mural.” A 31-metre-wide by 17-metre-high projection, powered by six Christie HS Series laser projectors delivering 19,150 lumens each, floods the building with vivid imagery that anchors the show’s historical storytelling.
On either side of the hall, gauze screens measuring 16 metres by 3 metres add depth and movement to the live performances. Rear-projected by 10 Christie Captiva DWU500S ultra short throw laser projectors, these layered visuals surround the audience with a sense of scale while maintaining an intimate connection to the performers on stage.
In front of the hall, a towering stone tablet becomes another focal point. Two DWU760-iS laser projectors create a three-sided projection that reveals the Chinese character for “integrity” stroke by stroke, as though carved by light itself. Spanning 3.8 metres wide by 3.5 metres high across all three faces, the sequence delivers one of the production’s most powerful symbolic moments.
The experience continues in the rear garden, where Mingjing Lake provides a mirror-like canvas for projection and performance. Six HS Series laser projectors illuminate a 30-metre-high mountain backdrop and a 17-metre-wide water screen. Here, visuals unfold like a painted scroll, blending poetry, moonlight and live action to celebrate the works of Song Dynasty poet Su Shi.
Gene Wang, director of ProAV Sales for China, Christie, commented, “‘Moon Over Kaifeng’s Southern Courtyard’ is a powerful example of how projection can bridge heritage and modern storytelling. By combining multiple Christie laser projectors in a single, large-scale deployment, the project showcases how advanced visualization can elevate cultural tourism and bring history vividly to life.”
