I saw the WeCom QR code floating in the sky when I left the office building at 9 p.m. Is the free drone show becoming a substitute for Liuyang fireworks for overworked office workers?

Night sky, fireworks, and photos of life — The only remaining fantasy of office workers who spend half their time being roasted and the other half taking a shower in the rain about a romantic summer.

The reality is that you might not be able to catch up with a fireworks festival even after five years of working. Whether it's in Liuyang or Tokyo, it requires money, time, and fast ticket - grabbing skills.

But congratulations, now you have an alternative, the drone light show.

You can't get off work at 7 p.m. and meet your dating partner to enjoy a fireworks festival in Nagaoka, but you can definitely go to the downstairs square to watch a 20 - minute drone light show during your weekend overtime.

It's just as large, bright, and ever - changing, and it's still the life experience of "looking up at the same night sky with you".

Large - scale fireworks are becoming rarer, while drone shows are blooming everywhere from Jinan to Shanghai, and from Chongqing to Shenzhen. They have been turned into regular weekend events in the skies of various cities by local governments. On June 17th, in a drone light show in Chongqing, 11,787 drones took off simultaneously, breaking the world record for drone shows.

"I won't watch the Spring Festival Gala this year unless 8,000 drones perform 'Wealth Comes from All Directions' in the sky."

01 Is the drone show the next musical glowing fountain in scenic spots?

The drone show is the new aerial landmark in first - and second - tier cities.

In Chongqing, you can see a 3D big chili slowly rising into the sky. In Shanghai, you can see a giant dragon circling the Oriental Pearl Tower. In Handan, there's no doubt that it's two slogans made up of drones, "So close, so beautiful. Spend your weekend in Hebei."

Compared with fireworks that are only good at creating an atmosphere, drones are like a useful subordinate that can create whatever the client wants.

There are shows with QR codes. You watch the drones changing colorful patterns in the sky, and suddenly a QR code appears in the middle. Raising your phone to scan it seems like a divine order — and the key is that you can really scan it out.

Image source: Xiaohongshu @Victor can't stay at home 

There are also shows used for anti - fraud publicity. In Shanghai, various anti - fraud slogans are projected by drones right above the Huangpu River, reminding citizens "If you engage in maritime bidding, you'll either get arrested or deceived." This is where the practicality of drones comes in: you can't paste slogan banners on the river, and anti - fraud text messages don't have much deterrence. If there are scammers having business talks on a boat and see such a glowing line of words in the sky, they'll feel a sense of "the police are watching you" and immediately turn over a new leaf.

"The silver bracelets formed by drones are still shining."

There are also shows with giant portraits of celebrities.

During the Saudi National Day last year, 1,900 drones projected giant portraits of the king and the crown prince in the Saudi sky. Someone joked, "The crown princes were very satisfied, happily paid an astronomical performance fee, and kept the drones."

The top - stream Labubu successfully ascended in Hangzhou. During the May Day holiday this year, "The world's first large - scale drone show for Labubu" was staged by the West Lake in Hangzhou. The giant glowing Labubu overlooked the whole city of Hangzhou from the sky. Suddenly, the 1.08 - million - yuan Labubu sculpture seemed to be great value for money — after all, some people spent hundreds of thousands just to have Labubu projected in the sky for a few seconds.

But if there's one thing that's always projected in every drone show, it must be the dragon.

No Chinese person can resist the sense of redemption of seeing a golden glowing dragon circling into the sky and even flying around the Oriental Pearl Tower. Of course, neither can foreigners. Under a video of a Chongqing drone show, an American IP commented, "I bet they'll be leading in 2050."

In the 21st century, the descendants of the dragon witnessed a cyber miracle thanks to drones.

The drone show has been continuously upgraded, from the original abstract 2D patterns formed by hundreds of drones to today's 3D surreal animations. In a Chongqing drone show, more than ten thousand drones formed a kitten in the sky over Chongqing. "Sure enough, the earth can't turn without kittens." The special effects are more complex. It can be paired with fireworks to achieve the effect of "the Milky Way falls from the sky", and it can also interact with buildings. The 3D basketball players formed by drones jumped across several high - rise buildings in Shanghai and dunked the basketball into the "basket hoop" above the Shanghai Tower.

Image source: Xiaohongshu @Enjoy Two Rivers 

The number of drones in shows has increased from hundreds to ten thousand, which has become a way for companies to show off their skills.

In 2017, 300 drones took off simultaneously at Lady Gaga's concert, shocking the audience, and the drone light show caught the world's attention. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, 1,100 Chinese drones "paid tribute" around the Eiffel Tower, making the Olympics look like the Spring Festival Gala. In 2025, 11,787 drones took off simultaneously in Chongqing one night, changing 9 patterns in the sky.

The frequency of drone shows is also increasing. According to statistics, even during the epidemic in 2021, there were 7,228 drone formation shows in China.

Chongqing, a city already famous for Hongya Cave and light shows, has made drone shows a regular weekend event. Chongqing announced this year that starting from April 19th, drone light shows will be held every Saturday night and on important holidays. In May, the number of drones increased from 2,000 to 5,000, with 12 patterns and a 20 - minute flight, and the patterns are different in each show.

"The sky has never been dark on Saturday nights, which further confirms Chongqing's image as an 8D magical city."

Image source: Xiaohongshu @Teacher Romena in Dubai 

Since then, Chongqing citizens and tourists have one more must - visit item. They crowd at the Grand Theatre in Jiangbei District on Saturday nights to see what new tricks Chongqing has come up with in the sky. It's free, grand, and on limited - time display. You know there will be a large crowd for an event that meets these conditions. Although the drone show is in the sky, there are only four or five best viewing spots on the riverbank to see the front - view patterns. So if you go, you need to bring a small fan, a folding stool, and mosquito repellent — after all, it's still summer in Chongqing. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people watched the drone show on the night of June 17th.

 The booming development of a new entertainment industry means that new ways of playing other than cultural and tourism have been discovered, which can support the newly - emerged start - up companies besides the "big players".

So proposing marriage with drones has become the new fashion in the world of domineering CEOs.

Combining drones with a marriage proposal is more romantic than "projecting a confession on a building curtain wall" and more solemn than "using candles and flowers". The patterns are either a 3D heart floating with "Marry me", or a diamond ring formed by drones being slowly put on a hand. In the past, witnessing someone's marriage proposal was by chance, but now it's just "accidentally looking up".

"The rich get married, and the poor witness it."

Image source: Xiaohongshu @momo 

I inquired about several drone marriage - proposal planning companies, and the prices are not too exaggerated. They range from more than twenty thousand to hundreds of thousands, depending on your choice. The number of drones, the city where the flight takes place, and the performance duration will all affect the quality of this marriage proposal. The most basic package with 100 drones usually costs about 30,000 yuan, which can form some simple pixel - point pictures or two Chinese characters.

The duration of the show also depends on the location of the marriage proposal: in Hangzhou or Qingdao, you can get 10 patterns for 20,000 - 30,000 yuan, and you'll also get a luxury cruise for free. In Shanghai, you'll only get 2 patterns. You need to be quick with your proposal, "The sky in Shanghai is also charged according to the Shanghai exchange rate."

As for when to use which package, the drone companies have it all arranged clearly: 300 drones for 28,888 yuan are suitable for the first confession; 500 drones for 48,888 yuan are suitable for a marriage proposal; 1,000 drones for 88,888 yuan are suitable for a wedding anniversary. You can say, "Everyone in City A knows that the young master married the young lady."

Drone companies also accept orders for birthday wishes and idol support, but there aren't many fans who are so generous. Maybe it's because it's hard to take a photo with an idol's head projected in the sky, and it's useless except to scare passers - by. It's more practical to rent three sides of a shopping mall's large screen.

Compared with fireworks, drone shows are more suitable for cities. As long as there is an open flat ground or water area and local approval is obtained, a drone show can be presented. New York cancelled the fireworks show for the New Year's Eve in 2024 and replaced it with 500 drones, citing reasons of being smokeless, flameless, more environmentally friendly, and less dangerous.

But no matter how good the cyber fireworks are, they can't replace the original sense of shock when real fireworks go off.

"One major disadvantage of the drone show is that there's no sound when they take off."

02 Can a drone earn 800 yuan for a 15 - minute flight? "Higher than my daily salary."

Drones are used for CEOs' marriage proposals, in tourist scenic spots, and at music festivals. Why can the once "exclusive to the Olympics" and "exclusive to the royal family" drone shows take to the sky so frequently now?

Cost - effectiveness is the key: the price of drone shows has dropped rapidly in the past six or seven years. Around 2018, the price of a single drone for one show could reach 10,000 yuan. To hold a show with 1,000 drones, a budget of 10 million yuan was required. So at that time, only large - scale events like the Spring Festival Gala and the Olympics could afford this expensive toy.

In 2018, Xi'an held a drone show to challenge the world record. 1,374 drones took off simultaneously, but many of them malfunctioned and even fell directly, ruining the show. According to the data released later, the total expenditure of this "drone light and shadow show" was 28.28 million yuan, of which the cost of the drone show was 10.5 million yuan, and the "appearance fee" for each drone exceeded 7,600 yuan on average.

By 2025, the price of drones for large - scale cultural and tourism shows has dropped significantly. On average, a drone only needs about 800 yuan for a 15 - minute show. Some small drone companies can even offer prices as low as 200 - 300 yuan to attract