Sichuan's dragons burn bright
The southwestern province is decoratively illuminated to celebrate the mythical zodiac creature and Lunar New Year, Huang Zhiling reports in Chengdu.
And Zigong's International Dinosaur Lantern Festival has long been a highlight of Sichuan's winter and its Lunar New Year tourism, attracting a large number of tourists not just to the city but also, more generally, to Sichuan, says provincial culture and tourism official Yan Sashuang. The event's 30th installment runs until Sunday.
It hosts over 1,000 lantern displays depicting China's 5,000 years of culture, including dragons, bronze ding cauldrons and feitian, a mythical flying creature depicted in Dunhuang's Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northwest China's Gansu province.
On the square of the main entrance to the site of the festival, a 48-meter-long dragon lantern rotates 360 degrees to spiral around a sundial. It's the largest mechanical lantern in the festival's history.
Peng Chao contributed to this story.
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