Stargazers add luster to little-known prefecture

Happy ending

The next day, the group moved to a scenic area featuring a poplar forest in a desert in Yiwu county. Ancient trees in various shapes provided unique backdrops for astronomy photos.

Between 10 pm and midnight, dozens of meteors shot across the clear, dark sky. Wang ended the fourth and final livestream and quietly admired the spectacle with other festival participants.

According to Liu, the Hami official, the five-day event resulted in 60 million hits on various social media platforms.

The first session in January garnered 80 million online hits.

Overall, Liu was pleased with the outcome. "The second session's number (of online hits) is lower," Liu said. "But it's mainly because more institutions joined to livestream the meteor shower and the online volume has been split. To be honest, we are still satisfied by what we achieved."

In the Dahaidao scenic area, the group had to share the campsite with dozens of other tourists who drove cars to the site.

"That means more people considered Hami to be a destination for stargazing," the official said.