UAE's Sharjah shines bright at annual light festival

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The 14th Sharjah Light Festival, themed "Lights Unite Us", is currently underway in the Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, where visitors can experience a dazzling display of innovative technology and cultural heritage coming together in a spectacular visual celebration.

Running from Feb 5 to 23, the festival transforms 12 iconic landmarks across the emirate into vibrant hubs of creativity, featuring breathtaking light installations, mesmerizing drone performances, and innovative art and technology experiences that will captivate and inspire visitors.

International artists have created stunning installations that come alive at night, showcasing vibrant colors and imagination. These installations offer a glimpse into Emirati culture and heritage, allowing visitors to experience the region's rich traditions.

A total of 75 lighting manufacturers from around the world are joining forces to showcase their innovative designs and technologies at this year's light festival.

The festival is a globally recognized and highly anticipated event, ranking among the world's top light festivals and being a major highlight in Sharjah's cultural calendar.

Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 2.70 percent to 3,995.00 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 4.79 percent higher at 14,042.50 points.

The combined turnover of the two indices totaled 2.43 trillion yuan (about 353.8 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 1.61 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Precious metals, AI applications, computing hardware and semiconductor chips led the gains, while oil, gas, coal and pharmaceutical retail bucked the trend and fell.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 5.91 percent to close at 3,347.61 points.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 5.64 percent higher at 1,738.35 points.