Central China's city of Liuyang, dubbed the "hometown of fireworks," staged a special edition of its Saturday night fireworks show on Dec 28 to celebrate the upcoming New Year.
Since 2023, the city has been routinely holding fireworks shows on Saturdays to boost tourism, attracting over 5 million spectators so far. Over 100,000 spectators gathered for the end-of-the-year special at Liuyang's Sky Theater on Saturday.
The hour-long spectacle of creativity and brilliance lit up the night sky with over 10,000 fireworks that reached heights of over 300 meters. The show also used 1,000 drones to launch 1,800 blue fireworks in midair to mimic a meteor shower.
For a special feature in the last show of the year, organizers collected 2,025 wishes and launched them to the sky with 2,025 lantern shape fireworks, wishing people a happy New Year in 2025.
Liuyang has been actively developing its fireworks industry in recent years, introducing new standards for fireworks products, emphasizing environmental performance and innovation. LiuYang has pioneered the development of eco-friendly fireworks, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of the industry while maintaining the stunning visual effects that have made the city famous.
China's 'hometown of fireworks' stages end-of-year special show
China's Shenzhou-21 astronauts have steadily carried out a series of tasks aboard the Tiangong space station over the past week, including in-orbit experiments, equipment maintenance and health monitoring, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday.
The crew, comprised of mission commander Zhang Lu and astronauts Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, have spent more than four months in orbit and remain in good health, according to the CMSA.
Inside the station's core module, cherry tomatoes cultivated using a water aeroponic device are thriving. The astronauts documented the plants with photos, harvested ripe fruit and sealed both plants and produce separately for preservation.
Building on the success of the cherry tomato cultivation, the team will conduct aeroponic experiments with wheat, carrots, and both medicinal and edible plants as planned. These trials aim to validate key technologies and expand the range of crops and technical capabilities for space cultivation.
In the field of space materials science, the crew completed several tasks, including cleaning the experimental chamber in the unpressurized compartment, replacing experimental samples, maintaining the electrodes of the central mechanism, and cleaning the window cover of the central mechanism.
They also completed related microgravity combustion science experiments, which included replacing the burner and sampling cover inside the experiment cabinet, as well as vacuumization and exhaust gas discharge.
Additional work included maintenance of the regenerative life support system equipment, microorganism monitoring and assessment and medical training, which helps familiarize the astronauts with the rescue operation methods and force application characteristics in a microgravity environment.
The Shenzhou-21 crewed spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Oct 31, 2025, sending the three astronauts to the orbiting space station on a six-month mission.
Shenzhou-21 crew advances space experiments, equipment maintenance on Tiangong
