Colorful lanterns were lit up last Sunday at Beijing's Old Summer Palace to celebrate the upcoming Lantern Festival, which falls on Tuesday this year. /VCG Photo

The lantern exhibition features nearly 20 groups of well-designed lanterns that represent the style and culture of different regions, using dragons, pandas, giant tea kettles, pigs, Peking Opera masks, etc. /VCG Photo

Other celebratory activities, such as the dragon dance, will be performed at the palace to add more festive vibes. /VCG Photo

The Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as Yuanmingyuan, was dubbed the "Garden of Gardens" and the "Versailles of the East" during its heyday in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912 AD). However, the palace was destroyed and burned to the ground after the Anglo-French forces conducted extensive looting and destruction on October 18, 1860, during the Second Opium War. The palace was turned into a historic site by the Chinese government in 1980 and was partly restored afterwards. /VCG Photo