Chinese cities light up during Spring Festival

Across China, cities are rolling out colorful evening activities and light shows in celebration of the Spring Festival.

From centuries-old city walls glowing with lanterns to drone formations painting the night sky, millions are celebrating the arrival of the Chinese New Year, which is the Year of the Horse, with light, fire and festivity.

In Ningbo of east China's Zhejiang Province, the Cicheng ancient town has transformed its kilometer-long city walls into a lantern corridor. By day, visitors browse a folk market of rice cakes and sugar paintings; by night, over 40 illuminated lantern installations cast historic architecture in colorful light.

In Guiyang of southwest China's Guizhou Province, an urban park has become an open-air theater and cultural fair which hosts daily performances, including lantern parades in traditional attire, with visitors welcome to join.

In Changchun of northeast China's Jilin Province, Chinese New Year celebrations at a ice and snow park are drawing many residents and tourists, while in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Yunnan Province, tourists can enjoy the grand fireworks shows by the Lancang River at a night market next to popular tourist attractions.

In Jingzhou of central China's Hubei Province, 1,000 drones swarm above ancient city walls at night during the holiday season, sketching moving images in the dark, while the ancient city tourist zone hosts large-scale history reenactment shows and concerts to treat the holiday makers.

The Spring Festival falls on Tuesday this year, with the official holiday season lasting nine days from February 15 to 23.

Chinese cities light up during Spring Festival

Hungarians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, with about 8.1 million people eligible to cast ballots, according to the National Election Office.

Polls opened at 06:00 local time and closed at 19:00, with initial results expected late on Sunday evening.

Of the total, about 7.6 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in person at more than 10,000 polling stations nationwide, while some 500,000 were eligible to vote by mail.

Five parties or alliances are competing in the election. The latest opinion polls showed strong support for both Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz-Christian Democratic People's Party alliance and the opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar.

Among smaller parties, the far-right Our Homeland Movement is seen as having a chance to enter parliament, while others, including the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, are widely viewed as unlikely to cross the threshold.

This election marks Orban's fourth parliamentary race since returning to power in 2010, with the outcome set to determine whether he can secure a fifth consecutive term.

Under Hungary's electoral law, parliamentary elections are held every four years. The Hungarian parliament has 199 seats, including 106 filled through direct elections in single-member constituencies and 93 allocated to parties that enter parliament. The party or alliance that secures a majority of seats has the right to form a government.

Hungarians vote in parliamentary elections