The nightlife of the ancients could also be quite rich, but they had to find ways to get around the curfew system. For example, the curfew was usually lifted around the Lantern Festival each year. “Last year on the night of the Lantern Festival, the flower market was as bright as day. When the moon rose above the willow branches, lovers met after dusk.” These rare and romantic nights all took place during the Lantern Festival.

Ⅰ. The Lantern Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty

Based on the records of the Lantern Festival in Dongjing Meng Hua Lu (《东京梦华录》), let me tell you how the common people in the Northern Song Dynasty celebrated the Lantern Festival (from the 14th to the 18th day of the first lunar month).

1. The Imperial Street

From the 14th to the 18th day of the first lunar month, the entire Imperial Street turned into a pedestrian street. The lanterns hanging under the eaves were so bright that one could hardly find a shadow. The street was filled with performing troupes. Artists wearing ghost – face masks beat gongs and drums while performing skits, and the string – controlled puppet shows were so lifelike that they seemed like real people. The acrobatic troupes were even more amazing. They performed swallowing iron swords and spitting fire in public, and the onlookers cheered loudly. The teahouses and restaurants along the street were open all night. Storytellers, singers, cross – talk performers, and wrestlers made the place ten times more lively than today’s night markets!

2. Xuande Building of the Imperial Palace

The Aoshan Lantern (鳌山灯) in front of the emperor’s palace was the absolute star! The 30 – meter – high lantern mountain was wrapped with silk – like cloth, showing sea monsters. The fish – scale – shaped lantern balls rattled in the wind. The model of the library on the top of the mountain could rotate, and the silk waterfall on the mountainside had hidden mechanisms that could spray water. The most amazing one was the lantern of an immortal riding a crane made of gold wire. The pieces of colored glaze tinkled in the wind. If this were in modern times, it would probably charge an entrance fee of 200 yuan!

3. The Grand Xiangguo Temple

The monks at the Grand Xiangguo Temple went all out when it came to the lantern fair! In front of the Buddha Hall, they piled up candles to form a “mountain of flames”. The incense was so thick that it could even curl one’s eyelashes. At midnight, the middle – aged women would hold calabash ladles and scramble for the oil of the eternal lamps. It was said that in one year, they even stepped on and sent the boots of the Four Heavenly Kings flying! There were more fortune – telling stalls at the temple gate than milk tea shops. One fortune – teller might say, “Young lady, you’re sure to meet your Mr. Right today. Hurry up and go touch the door studs at Zhou Bridge（州桥）!” There were stalls selling consecrated souvenirs. Even the vegetarian pastries were engraved with the words “The Light of Buddha Shines Everywhere”. The monks were so busy counting copper coins that their hands cramped.

4. The Emperor Joins in the Fun Too

The emperor didn’t stand on ceremony either. He took his concubines and watched the lanterns on the Xuande Building. He even distributed fruit platters and drinks to the ministers. The best part was that the curfew was lifted. Even the farmers put on their new clothes and came out to have fun. Little kids ran wildly all over the street, holding paper lanterns in their hands. The lights all over the city were so bright that it was as if a Milky Way filter had been applied. The sounds of singing and dancing were so loud that people had to shout to be heard. Everyone partied all night long until the sun came up the next day. It was just like a real – life version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival.

Ⅱ. Spending the Night Outside the City

Apart from the Lantern Festival, the easiest way to get around the curfew order was to stay in the night market area all night long. In this way, one would not be restricted by the curfew. Usually, the curfew in the inner city was much stricter than that in the outer city, and there were often no night patrols in the outer city. Therefore, places with a rich nightlife in ancient times were often in the outer cities of big cities, such as the Eight Great Hutongs in Beijing, the Qinhuai River in Nanjing (秦准河), the Beiguan (北关) area in Hangzhou, and outside Changmen Gate in Suzhou. Or people would simply go outside the city.

Although the curfew in Chang’an City during the Tang Dynasty was strict, it didn’t stop people from seeking pleasure in certain areas. For example, Pingkangli was the main “red – light district”. In the famous poem Ancient Sentiments of Chang’an (《长安古意》) by Lu Zhaolin (卢照邻), there is such a plot: A group of young roving swordsman had a good time in the red – light district of Chang’an. Then, an imperial official in charge of law enforcement, known as “Zhi Jinwu (执金吾) “, visited with a large number of attendants. Soon after, some important figures who were high – ranking generals and ministers also came.

Ⅲ. Special Services

If one didn’t want to spend the night outside, they could also enjoy door – to – door services. From the Tang and Song dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, the central and local governments often kept “official courtesans” to serve as companions for drinking when public officials held banquets. Later, no matter who they were, as long as they were willing to pay, they could enjoy the same treatment. In the Qing Dynasty, the jargon for this was “calling a courtesan to a gathering”. When Su Dongpo was in Hangzhou, he often invited guests to the West Lake. After breakfast, he would ask the guests to board their own boats, and each boat would be accompanied by several singing girls. The guests could row and enjoy the scenery. They would gather in the evening and go to other places to have fun, not returning until late at night.

Dongjing Meng Hua Lu （《东京梦华录》） and Meng liang Lu （《梦梁录》）from the Song Dynasty recorded the “Four Bureaus and Six Departments” that were in charge of handling banquets. The host only needed to pay to hire chefs and singing girls from both official and private service industries. They could even hire people who “were specially in charge of lighting, setting up lamps, trimming candles, managing wall lamps, lanterns, arranging incense, and piling charcoal, etc.” to hold a high – class banquet at home. Wealthier families could even keep and train their own singing girls. In the Tang Dynasty legend The Kunlun Nu（《昆仑奴》）, a high – ranking official of the first rank actually had singing girls in ten different courtyards in his mansion. This was much better than the ordinary citizens who had to worry about the curfew when staying overnight in brothels.

Ⅳ. China’s City That Never Sleeps

The Song Dynasty was an era when the curfew was basically abolished, which was a rare sight in ancient Chinese history. Different from Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty, the urban layouts of Kaifeng and Lin’an in the Song Dynasty broke the boundaries between the commercial areas (“shi”) and residential areas (“fang”), making it difficult to enforce the curfew. Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, who liked nighttime activities, postponed the curfew time to the third watch of the night, and lifted it at the fifth watch. The time during which nighttime walking was prohibited was only a short two hours. “Night markets” and “morning markets” became common in the city of Dongjing (the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty).

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the curfew order existed in name only and was no longer enforced. The night markets in Lin’an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, were even more prosperous. “The large markets in Hangzhou (Lin’an) were open day and night without interruption. Around the third or fourth watch of the night, the number of tourists began to thin out. When the bell rang at the fifth watch, the vendors of the morning markets opened their shops again.” “The restaurants and singing houses didn’t quiet down until around the fourth watch. And when the horses for the early morning court meetings started to move at the fifth watch, those who sold goods at the morning markets got up and opened their shops again.” Lin’an might be the real city that never sleeps in ancient China.