1,000-year-old lantern fair once again captivates visitors

The lantern fair in Zigong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, which boasts a history of more than 1,000 years, is once again captivating visitors with its magnificent dazzling lanterns.

Covering an area of nearly 37 hectares, the 30th International Dinosaur Lantern Show kicked off in Zigong on February 2 and received around 450,000 visitors during the Spring Festival holiday from February 10 to 17.

To mark the Year of the Dragon, many of the lanterns at the show feature the Chinese sign of the zodiac, but there are also a wide variety of other lantern designs to meet different needs. Visitors who prefer traditional lanterns can find lanterns with flowers and birds, legendary figures, and landscapes, while lanterns with modern motifs such as cartoon characters, cultural trends and online games are gaining popularity among young people.

In addition to the exquisite craftmanship, modern technologies such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence have also been used to make the lanterns more vivid and elegant.

The lantern show is also embracing the concept of environmental protection. For example, a dragon lantern measuring over 200 meters long was made by bundling together some 200,000 discarded water bottles. A set of lanterns recreating the famous Chinese statue "Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow" from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) was created by using 21 different kinds of waste materials, including tires, leather and plastics to form its exterior decorations.

This year's show received more than 3,000 children's artworks from around the world. Some of the art pieces were turned into lanterns by skilled artisans.

The 30th International Dinosaur Lantern Show will run until July 30. The sets of lanterns will be updated to keep up with other traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Qingming Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. Visitors can also enjoy acrobatics, folk arts, and Chinese music performances during their lantern-viewing tours.

Famous for lantern-making, Zigong saw its lanterns illuminating 80 cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Chengdu, during this year's Spring Festival holiday. Zigong lanterns have also been lit up in more than 20 countries overseas this year, including Norway, Switzerland and Hungary.