Zigong Lantern Festival: The Best Lantern Festival in China

The best lantern festival in China A national intangible cultural heritage A dazzling light show at night This is the Zigong Lantern Festival Zigong is a city close to me. I had heard of it before, but only started to pay attention to it in the past two years. I remember the first time I went there was to visit the Salt Industry History Museum, and the second time was to see the lantern festival, which left a deep impression on me and made me want to go again. This time, I finally got to see this visual feast again during the Lunar New Year holiday. The Zigong Lantern Festival has a long history, dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties when people in the Zigong area had the custom of celebrating the New Year by watching lanterns. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Zigong Lantern Festival had further developed into various festivals and became a grand folk festival in the Bashu area. Today, the Zigong Lantern Festival has gone global and become the world's number one lantern festival. After a year, the lantern festival is still as stunning as ever. The various lantern sets are still made with great precision, and the combination of dynamic and static lantern sets is even more beautiful. The snake year lantern set "Qingcheng Shuangshu" is undoubtedly the biggest highlight of this year's lantern festival. The entire scenic area is a huge park. After checking the tickets, you can choose to enter from the west gate, where you will see the "Joyful Gate" lantern set. Further ahead, there are two roads, one on the left leading to the north gate lantern set, and one on the right leading to the main park lantern sets. It is recommended to go right first, then head towards the north gate, which is at a higher elevation and offers a panoramic view of the entire lantern festival park. Overall, the Zigong Lantern Festival lives up to its reputation as the "best lantern festival in the universe" according to netizens, with various large lantern sets that are vivid, bright, and full of festive atmosphere. It is worth mentioning that, after talking to the staff on site, I learned that the exhibits at the Zigong Lantern Festival are not designed randomly. They are created through extensive research and the collaboration of dozens or even hundreds of lantern craftsmen over several days. It can be said that each lantern set at the festival embodies the hard work of the lantern craftsmen. Zigong Lantern Festival Scenic Area Address: Dongyandu Avenue, Yantan District, Zigong City Lighting time: 17:00–10:30