Nujiang Canyon, Promising Future | Landscape Lighting Custom Project Of Beautiful Highway South Extension, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan
Abstract
With 33 years of experience in outdoor landscape lighting, Jinan Sanxing Lighting undertook the full-line landscape lighting project for the South Extension of Nujiang Beautiful Highway in Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Stretching 20.17 kilometers, this infrastructure serves as a core supporting facility for the relocation of 100,000 local residents and the regional poverty alleviation campaign. Our brand created the exclusive customized street lamp named "Qihang (Set Sail)", integrating Nujiang canyon landforms, river features and intangible cultural heritage of Lisu ethnic group. The project balances traffic lighting, cultural tourism landscape display and humanistic value of rural revitalization, benefiting over 300,000 residents alongside the highway, and building a canyon light corridor integrating economic belt, landscape belt and party-mass service belt.
1. Project Background & Construction Significance
Located in the northwest of Yunnan Province along the middle reaches of Nujiang River, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture covers four national-level poverty-stricken counties. Resettling 100,000 residents is the fundamental strategy to eliminate poverty in this area.
The South Extension of Nujiang Beautiful Highway is a key livelihood infrastructure project, starting construction in March 2019. It stretches from Sanjie Bridge in the south to Chengnan Gas Station in the north, with a total length of 20.17 km, and was fully opened to traffic on May 31, 2020, recognized as the "lifeline" of Nujiang’s economic growth. Connecting canyon villages, tourist spots and resettlement communities, the highway undertakes multiple missions including convenient transportation, industrial development and ethnic unity, bringing direct benefits to more than 300,000 local residents.
The supporting landscape lighting project is vital to complete highway functions, improve night travel safety and activate local cultural tourism landscape, injecting light-driven momentum into rural revitalization in remote impoverished canyon areas.
2. Core Design Concept Of Custom "Qihang" Street Lamp
Instead of standardized universal street lamps, Sanxing Lighting developed the exclusive customized street lamp "Qihang" based on Nujiang’s native nature and ethnic culture. The name symbolizes local residents sailing forward with the opportunity of poverty alleviation to pursue a better life.
Natural Landform Design Language
The lamp pole adopts iconic sapphire blue representing Nujiang River as the main color, and its curved shape reproduces the winding river canyon. Two bends stand for Bingzhongluo and "Looking Back On Nujiang" respectively. The middle light strip simulates the rushing Nujiang River, while two side poles symbolize Gaoligong Mountain and Biluo Snow Mountain, reproducing the unique geographical pattern of two mountains sandwiching a river within one street lamp.
Integrated Lisu Ethnic Cultural Design
The lamp base is decorated with traditional Lisu Labei patterns, engraved with the mark "Nujiang Grand Canyon". It integrates ethnic totems, paper-cut art, bead Oule Hat and other exclusive intangible cultural elements via carving and relief craftsmanship, fully reflecting the people-oriented design philosophy and turning road lamps into mobile cultural exhibition carriers.
Spiritual Connotation
The continuous blue lamp body resembles endless flowing river water, representing the thousand-year cultural inheritance of Nujiang and embodying the beautiful vision of preserving local ecology and culture forever. Connected lights along the highway at night symbolize brightness lighting the road to prosperity after poverty alleviation.
3. Project Operation Effect & People’s Livelihood Value
Covering all road sections including Sanjie Bridge, Baihualing, Dananmao and Chengnan Gas Station, the whole line is equipped with unified customized "Qihang" street lamps to form an integrated night landscape corridor:
Safe Traffic Guarantee: Even and stable road lighting eliminates blind zones for night travel, ensuring safety for local residents and tourists. Locals commented: "When roads are lit, our hearts are brightened."
Upgraded Cultural Tourism Landscape: Lights outline the contour of canyon mountains and rivers, forming a unique night scenic spot of Nujiang, boosting rural tourism, catering and supporting industries along the route.
Empower Poverty Alleviation & People’s Livelihood: As core supporting facilities for resettlement communities, continuous lights demonstrate national support for remote impoverished border areas, warm relocated residents and strengthen confidence in regional development.
Long-Term Comprehensive Benefits: The lighting project completes regional public infrastructure, linking towns, villages and scenic spots, and continuously promotes multi-dimensional development of economy, landscape and people’s livelihood alongside the highway.
4. Project Conclusion
The landscape lighting project of Nujiang Beautiful Highway South Extension is a benchmark case of Sanxing Lighting in cultural tourism customized lighting, mountain highway lighting and ethnic culture integrated engineering. One customized street lamp carries local mountains, rivers, ethnic heritage and the era mission of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, realizing the integration of functional lighting, landscape aesthetics and humanistic value. It provides a replicable design and implementation model for road lighting projects in canyon border areas and rural revitalization programs nationwide.
With 33 years of professional experience in outdoor landscape lighting, Jinan Sanxing Lighting provides full-process customized design and construction for urban main roads, tourist highways, rural revitalization supporting facilities and ethnic cultural tourism lighting projects.
