City of blinding lights

Although Shanghaiist finds the Lujiazui area of Pudong rather charming (in a freaky Jetsons-on-acid kind of way), we are also aware that many people find it to be a tacky mess. So if you thought Lujiazui was a frighteningly gaudy freakshow before, this news certainly won't ease your fears now. Shanghai Daily reports that city officials are planning to add, get this, "THOUSANDS" of lights to Pudong New Area very soon, in an effort to turn Pudong New Area into "the beacon of the city":

The "Peace Theme" light show along the Huangpu River will feature the brightest lights in Shanghai, officials from the Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau said.

The eight-minute show will use 5,000 colorful searchlights to light up the sky every half hour between 7pm and 11pm, officials said.

Every. Half. Hour. Those 5,000 search lights have our inner Batman giddy with anticipation, but it doesn't stop there. In addition to those thousands of lights firing up the night sky, officials also plan to "decorate" Century Avenue, Lujiazui Xi Lu, and residential buildings and parks in Pudong with even more lights. All of these nightlights have Shanghaiist wondering if the city officials have any Burnsian plans up their sleeves to block out the sun and cover Shanghai in perpetual night. While this gross misuse of energy might leave a bad taste in your mouth, Shanghai residents have no need to worry about all that wasted power:

Officials said the tree lights will not strain the power grid because they use LED technology to save energy.

Great, the tree lights. Now Pudong residents can rest easy and put away all those candles and non-perishable food items that were prepared for the searchlight-induced power outage.