The Lantern Festival falls on March 3 this year, which is the fifteenth day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar. The festival marks the first full moon of the year and also the end of Spring Festival celebrations.

The festival has a long history but is now commonly celebrated by appreciating various kinds of lanterns, eating delicious sticky rice balls and solving lantern riddles.

Two types of delicious sticky rice balls, tangyuan and yuanxiao, take center stage on the dining table on the festival day.

Meanwhile, folk performances and various kinds of lantern-related activities are held across the country to celebrate the joyful festival.

At a square in Tianshui City, northwest China's Gansu Province, accompanied by the resounding beat of drums, traditional dragon dances and lion dances took place on Tuesday, creating a lively atmosphere that attracted many locals and tourists to stop and watch.

Even before the Lantern Festival, various parade performances, such as fish lanterns and board dragon lanterns, made brilliant appearances at night in Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province.

The parade procession wound its way through the streets and alleys in the county, with tourists following the fish lanterns, immersing themselves in the spectacular scene of the night of fish and dragon dance.

While some lantern techniques are inscribed as part of China's national intangible cultural heritage, this year's lantern shows across the country have embraced advanced technologies to create immersive and stunning experiences for the audience.

At a long-standing lantern show in north China's Tianjin Municipality, which has been held since 1988, seven large thematic lantern displays, 10 decorative lanterns and shaped lanterns are displayed to entertain locals and tourists. The lantern displays, blending intangible cultural heritage techniques with modern lighting and shadow technology, creates a panoramic 3D dynamic visual effect.

For astronomy enthusiasts, this year's Lantern Festival also coincides with the only total lunar eclipse of the year.