Lantern displays light up cities in China for Spring Festival

Cities across China are dazzling with vibrant lantern displays, drawing crowds of visitors to celebrate the festive atmosphere ahead of the Spring Festival, the country's most important annual celebration.

The Spring Festival, which marks the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the biggest annual holiday in China, when people across the country return to their hometowns for Lunar New Year celebrations and family reunions. This year, it falls on Jan 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

As night falls in Tongcheng City of east China's Anhui Province, the Liuchi Alley, a historical cultural site, is aglow with a spectacular array of colorful lanterns.

Visitors entering the lantern fair are greeted by a mesmerizing sea of lights, where hundreds of intricately designed lanterns create an enchanting atmosphere.

The vibrant displays, in a wide range of shapes and hues, transport onlookers into a fairytale world.

At the heart of the exhibition stands a 10-meter-long lantern display titled "Golden dragon brings blessings".

Bathed in golden light, the dragon shimmers with radiant scales, its head held high, enticing tourists to pose for photos.

In Anshan City of the northeastern Liaoning Province, the Ice and Snow Lantern Carnival at the Anshan Zoo has received a grand upgrade in time for the Spring Festival.

Upon entering the park, visitors are greeted by a pageant of dazzling lanterns, including a stunning recreation of the mythical Monkey King's Mount Huaguo from Journey to the West, a Chinese classical novel depicting the epic adventure of Xuan Zang, a famed Tang Dynasty (618-907) Buddhist monk.

The "Monkey King" lantern and other imaginative displays have captivated many visitors, eager to capture the moment.

Beyond the lanterns, the carnival also offers a variety of ice and snow activities.

The Fourth Ice and Snow Lantern Carnival's night sessions will run until Feb 13, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the sparkling lights and festive spirit.

Lantern displays light up cities in China for Spring Festival

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met with visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Beijing on Thursday morning.

Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin a four-day official visit at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, marking the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years.

Zhao noted that nurturing sound China-UK relations carries significant importance for the times and for the world amid an international landscape undergoing a period of turbulence and transformation.

He said that since Starmer took office in July 2024, Chinese leaders have engaged in phone calls and meetings with the British side, steering bilateral relations onto a track of improvement and development.

China is willing to work with the UK to uphold the strategic partnership, maintain a positive, pragmatic, stable and mutually beneficial direction, properly manage differences, and ensure that China-UK relations develop in a steady, substantive, and far-reaching manner, Zhao said.

Zhao also expressed China's readiness to work with the UK to restore normal exchanges between the two countries' legislative bodies and welcomed British parliamentarians to visit China to gain a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic understanding of the country.

For his part, Starmer noted the UK and China share extensive common interests, and said the UK is willing to develop a long-term, consistent strategic partnership with China. He affirmed that the UK's longstanding policy on the Taiwan question remains unchanged and expressed hope for the resumption of normal exchanges between the two legislatures.

China's top legislator meets British PM in Beijing