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Around 200,000 visitors passed through Siqian Street in Longwan district this Spring Festival, making it the first big winner of the district’s cultural-tourism season. The old street transformed into an “immersive Tang dynasty”: crowds, rising smoke from food stalls, and a festival atmosphere that made it one of the hottest check-in spots in the city.

The immersive drama The Great Tang Capital Adventure ran along the whole street. NPC performers roamed, street acts broke out at every corner, and the God of Wealth handed out sweets — one scene after another, every step a piece of theatre, as visitors felt themselves walking into a thousand-year-old capital.

The centrepiece was a 66-table long-street feast — a reunion at the table that stretched down the lane, steam rising from dish to dish. Here was the New Year’s flavour, lit in an instant.

The street’s online and offline buzz fed each other. Xinhua News, Zhejiang Daily and other mainstream outlets covered the scene, applauding a lane that was crowded on the ground and trending above it — old-street heritage meeting the surge of festive spending.