Regions display shining examples of progress

Residents of Sichuan province, shunning travel outside the southwestern province in the aftermath of COVID-19, have a new attraction to visit that's closer to home; the lanterns at the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu.

Sixteen arches with lanterns in the shape of flowers－peach, lotus, chrysanthemum and plum－have lit up the night sky over the museum. The museum, which covers an area of 300,000 square meters and is a National Archaeological Site Park, also displays lanterns featuring the culture of, and implements related to, farming, sun worship and folk customs.

They highlight the fact that Sichuan is a major grain producing region and that the museum oversaw the excavation of a 3,000-year-old goldleaf sunbird in 2001. The golden disc was adopted as the symbol of Chinese cultural heritage by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2005.

According to the administration, its exquisite craftsmanship, representation of ancient Chinese people's worship of the sun and the Chinese nation's enterprising spirit account for the decision.

Despite the splendor of the lanterns at the famous museum, many Sichuan people long to visit Zigong, a city in Sichuan, the lanterns of which are considered to be among China's best.

However, out of consideration for epidemic prevention, the city will not offer a lantern show at this time of year.

Any mention of Zigong, about 200 kilometers from Chengdu, reminds people of its nearly 2,000-year history of salt production and, until recently, this was an important source of national revenue.

But Zigong is best known for its lanterns, the history of which dates back to the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

The city, designated as a national-level historical and cultural city by the central government, has made many of China's best lanterns.

For this reason, the former Ministry of Culture named Zigong "the birthplace of China's art of lantern-making" and the former National Tourism Administration designated its lantern show as one of China's most important folk activities.

Rather than treat lantern shows as merely a traditional activity during the Spring Festival, Zigong holds them during different seasons and even in different countries.

Before the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1981-85), Zigong's economy, dominated by the salt industry, exceeded the national economic growth rate and made it the province's third largest industrial city.

But, over-reliance on a single product became a problem by the late 1980s. Salt output in Central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces rose sharply and some other cities and counties in Sichuan started producing their own salt.

This growing competition had an impact on the revenue of Zigong's salt enterprises, and the city's economic growth rate lagged behind that of newer industrial cities in Sichuan.

During the Spring Festival in 1987, Zigong held a 40-day lantern show. The city of some 3 million people attracted 2.3 million tourists.

The success prompted Zigong's decision-makers to treat lantern shows as a new economic growth point.

In the summer of 1988, Zigong held a large lantern show in Beijing's Beihai Park, which lasted 46 days. In addition to being a great financial success, it made Zigong's lanterns known to the rest of the country.

In the autumn of 1990, Zigong was approved by the former Ministry of Culture to hold a 17-day lantern show in Singapore, which was the first time the city had held a lantern show overseas.

"Since then, Zigong has held shows in 76 countries and regions around the world. Despite COVID-19, shows were held in 30 cities in more than 20 countries in 2020," says Yang Bin, head of the Zigong municipal government information office. "Visitors are impressed by the lanterns made of china, glass and medicine bottles," he adds.

Opened to the public in 1994, the China Lantern Museum in Zigong, built with earnings from the lantern shows, is China's largest museum of its kind.

With 151 modern and contemporary Chinese lanterns, and 12 contemporary foreign ones, it has attracted 740,000 visitors since 2017, said curator Dai Yanling.