China Kaiyuan Square, Xi'an

Kaiyuan Square is just one of many public light show installations about Xi’an. The centre piece is a statue of Xuan Zong, Emperor of the Tang Dynasty for the first half of the 7th century, a period considered by many to be the Golden age of China: there was peace and prosperity and advances in education and culture. The pedestal of the statue is surrounded by statues of musicians on one tier and prosperous men on the other, reflects this.

The 8 columns appear to have an LED matrix, like a TV screen, wrapped around them. They’re computer controlled and run through a constantly changing cycle of about 10 minutes.

A tripod is essential, really. Also, make sure you have plenty of spare memory/storage, in case you decide to video the amazing transformations. The display stops fairly early in the evening so get there at around dusk.

For me, getting there was easy: I was enjoying complimentary food and drink on the top floor of the nearby Wyndham Grand Xian South (highly recommended) and just looked out the window. I left my family chomping away, collected my kit from my room and just ran around the corner to the square.

Local taxis are not expensive.