Ancient town alive with thousands of lanterns

When night falls, the modern part of the county fades into darkness. Red lanterns in a variety of sizes illuminate ancient structures, bringing the ancient town back to life.

Zhengding, around 250 kilometers southwest of Beijing, one hour from the capital by high-speed train, is a county in Shijiazhuang, the capital of North China's Hebei province.

With a history of more than 1,600 years, it was once named one of the three most important towns in ancient northern China, with the other two being Beijing and Baoding, also in Hebei.