Chinese people across the country have been marking the Lantern Festival with vibrant lantern fairs, cultural heritage performances and bowls of sweet tangyuan -- glutinous rice balls served as a traditional Chinese dessert.
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it is celebrated on Tuesday. It marks the end of the celebrations of the 15-day Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival.
In the eastern Chinese city of Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, 39 dragon dance troupes from across the province and from Dongguan, a city in the neighboring Guangdong Province, gathered for a large-scale performance ahead of the festival.
"We've invited the team from Dongguan to perform here and engage in exchanges so we can learn from each other, and so that our intangible heritage not only lives but also thrives," said Deng Jianmin, an inheritor of the traditional carp lantern dance.
In Tianshui, a city in northwest China's Gansu Province, more than 500 performers staged lion and dragon dances at the Longcheng Square, drawing crowds of residents and out-of-town visitors.
To mark the Lantern Festival, more than 1,000 lanterns lit up the night sky over Qingshui county, drawing crowds of visitors eager to capture the celebrations on camera.
Shanghai's historic Yuyuan Garden drew crowds eager to admire elaborate lanterns for the festival, while families were drawn to a hand-crafted rabbit lantern, a symbol of reunion and happiness.
In the coastal city of Zhangzhou, east China's Fujian Province, the local specialty of brown sugar tangyuan proved popular.
"We sell about 1,500 to 2,500 bowls a day," said Chen Limin, a restaurant owner.
In Ordos, a city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, parades, traditional chopstick dances and folk performances from across the country -- including waist drum troupes from northwest China's Shaanxi -- were staged to celebrate the festival
The local authorities said Ordos staged 126 cultural and tourism events during the Spring Festival period, distributed 1.5 million yuan (about 210,000 U.S. dollars) in consumer vouchers and welcomed 3.58 million visitors, generating 2.5 billion yuan in tourism revenue.
Chinese celebrates Lantern Festival with lantern shows, heritage performances
Chinese celebrates Lantern Festival with lantern shows, heritage performances
China's first 500-kV cross-border alternating-current power interconnection project entered service Monday, creating the highest voltage grid tie between the two countries and advancing Belt and Road energy cooperation.
The project raises two-way power transfer capacity between the two countries from 50,000 kW to 1.5 million kW, enabling the annual transmission of about 3 billion kWh of clean electricity, roughly 30 times the capacity of previous lines, according to China Southern Power Grid.
As the largest cross-border grid project and the highest-voltage power link between China and Laos, it connects southwest China's Yunnan Province with Oudomxay and Luang Namtha provinces in northern Laos.
Cross-border electricity trading began as the project entered operation. About 4.81 million kWh of power from clean energy bases in northern Laos was transmitted to Yunnan through the new line, marking a more regular and institutionalized phase of power connectivity between the two countries.
It is also the first time an overseas new energy project has participated in China's electricity market, the company said. The power involved in the transaction came from a large mountain photovoltaic project in Laos, one of the core supporting power sources for the interconnection line.
"This project is the cross-border power grid project with the highest voltage level between China and Laos. Leveraging the China-Laos power grid interconnection and the power markets in southern China, surplus hydropower from Laos can be transmitted to China during the rainy season, while China can supply supplemental power to northern Laos during the dry season. This project represents yet another landmark achievement between China and Laos in deepening power cooperation and jointly advancing the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Li Jingru, general manager of Electricite du Laos Transmission Company Limited (EDL-T), a joint venture of China Southern Power Grid and Lao state-run Electricite du Laos.
The solar project has an average annual power generation capacity of about 1.65 billion kWh. In 2026, it is expected to transmit about 1.1 billion kWh of solar power across the border, supporting energy complementarity between the two countries.
"In the future, efforts will be made to further promote normalized cross-border electricity trading, meet the trading needs such as electricity transmission from Laos to China's Yunnan, from China's Yunnan to Laos, and from Laos to China's Guangdong, and facilitate the optimal allocation of energy resources in the Lancang-Mekong region," said Li Minhong, marketing director of China Southern Power Grid.
Construction of the interconnection project began in late February last year. Spanning a total length of 177.5 km, the transmission line includes a 145-km Chinese section and a 32.5-km Lao section.
New China-Laos power link expands transfer capacity 30-fold, boosts electricity trading
