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Lantern festivals add magic to celebrations and their designs are deeply inspired (激励) by traditional culture. On Sept 24, 2023, Wan Songtao and his team organized the lantern show at the Aldrich Bay Park in Hong Kong. Later, they hurried back to their hometown of Zigong in Sichuan province, where another grand lantern show was on the way.

“The older I grow, the more I like lantern making.” the 54-year-old Wan Songtao tells China Daily. Early in the morning after landing in Zigong, Wan went to work at Chinese Lantern World, an ocean of light and color by huge lanterns in the shape of humans, flowers, animals and buildings to celebrate the traditional Chinese festivals. The show attracted (吸引) over 210,000 visitors from around China to the city, which is known for being home to one of the world’s best lantern shows.

Wan has made lanterns for over 30 years. In 2015, he was recognized as a city-level inheritor (继承人). At college, Wan studied painting, which led him to think about how to combine (结合) art with lantern design. Later in his work, he kept trying till now.

Each year, he invites a French light artist to exchange, and this year, he introduced the artist to the Chinese Lantern College. “I am excited to make it. Even though it is only a beginning, I am looking forward to seeing more breakthroughs (突破) in creative design for the lanterns,” Wan says.