The 2021 Shanghai Happy Valley EV Music Festival kicks off in Shanghai Sheshan National Tourist-Resort on July 9. [Photo/China Daily]

With super idols and a light show performed by drones, a music carnival opened with style in Shanghai on Friday.

With the theme of space travel, the 2021 Shanghai Happy Valley EV Music Festival, which runs to Sept 12, is bringing people excitement through a series of activities featuring natural light displays, disco, cyberspace and e-sports.

The event, held in the Happy Valley of Shanghai Sheshan National Tourist Resort is part of the resort's annual carnival season.

Started in June, the carnival season holds activities ranging from water sports, electronic music parties and summer camps to a racing championship.

Running from July 1 to Aug 31, the summer camp and night tours for families are held in the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.

According to organizers, the camp has designed courses that have outdoor activities to spread knowledge of plants, and hold both team contests and fun games. The courses also broadcast 4D movies to help children learn about plants and nature in a vivid way.

The activities also organize families to discover nature at night, to help them learn more about the diversity of insects and their habitats, and to promote ecological protection.

The family tour is guided by experts and visits three botanical museums to learn about the growth of rare and sandy plants, tropical flowers and fruits at night.

Creating more varieties for summer vacations, the resort has camps for teenagers to experience outdoor activities and take part in interactive games with family members.

During July and August, the resort will hold a five-day camp for training teenagers' independent abilities.

It will set up an outdoor course incorporating the observation of nature, and learning about outdoor culture and survival.

This camp will also take participants-on a tour of the resort to learn about nature in diverse aspects such as plants, birds and wild food.

For younger children, at the Smurfs amusement park, there are fun activities such as dancing machines and drawing lessons on weekends.

These activities help to educate the children about nature and inspire their outdoor instincts. They are part of the resort's efforts to develop leisure projects for residents.

According to the resort, there are many different competitions during the summer. At its Tianma Country Club, it will hold a golf invitational tournament and invite members to enjoy the game originally from Scotland. The club said the tournament requires all players to wear traditional Scottish dress and compete on grass.

More importantly, the resort will hold the 45th Tianma Racing Championship this summer. Launched in 2007, the motor racing event has a circuit that is authorized by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. It has a length of 2.06 kilometers and 14 bends.

Founded in 1995, Shanghai Sheshan National Tourist Resort is the only of its kind to be located in a municipality under the central government among the 12 others in China. The resort spans a planned area of 64.08 square kilometers and boasts rich mountain forest resources as well as historical and cultural relics.

Adhering to the philosophy of returning to nature, the resort has developed into a destination with state-of-the-art tourist facilities and is capable of handling high-level tourism requests.

The resort is home to a slew of national 4A-level scenic spots including the Sheshan National Forest Park, Shanghai Sculpture Park, Shanghai Happy Valley, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, and Guangfulin Cultural Relics Park.

It has star-rated hotels such as Yuluxe Sheshan, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Sofitel Sheshan Oriental Shanghai, InterContinental Shanghai Sheshan Shimao, Forest Hotel Shanghai Sheshan, and Guangfulin Prime Hotel, which all cater to different accommodation and meeting needs.

Over the years, the resort has developed activities such as the New Year's Day's Ascending Activity of Sheshan Shanghai, the Sheshan Lansun Culture Festival, the Tianma Racing Championship, and the International Magic Festival-.

In 2017, the resort was rated as one of the best ecological tourism destinations and a national urban ecotourism industry famous brand demonstration zone by the China National Travel magazine.

In 2018, it was named among the top 10 sports tourism destinations in China by the sports culture development center at the General Administration of Sport of China.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the resort said it will continue to enhance its tourism service, enrich its services featuring innovation, culture and ecology, and develop into a tourism destination with global influence and recognition.