At 8:00 p.m. on September 20, a lantern with the four ethnic elements of ‘Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han’ took to the skies from the square of Songpan ancient city. With this, the fourth Ancient City Lantern Festival with the theme of ‘lantern show and friendship gathering in Songpan’ was launched. The ancient city of Songzhou witnessed an eclectic mix of lights, crowds and cheers.

Songpan County was established 2,335 years ago. It is located at an important section of the Southern Silk Road. Songpan ancient city is a classic work of architectural art in ancient Chinese cities. It is famous for its ‘Eight Sceneries of Songzhou’, including ‘the Spring Rising of Ancient Bridges’, ‘the Evening Glow of Golden Peng’, ‘the Moon Reflected by Longtan’, ‘the Early Smoke of Firecrackers’, ‘the Bell of Great Sorrow’, ‘the Historical Site of Red Pine’, ‘the Autumn Sound of Wind Tunnel’, and ‘the Color of Snow Fence’. Lantern culture is the soul of Songpan and an important part of Songpan folk culture. Songpan lantern making began in the Qing Dynasty and has flourished in the contemporary era. It is mainly accompanied by Songpan's traditional song and dance. The lanterns have maintained their primitive and simple style and are rich in variety, exquisite in pattern and meticulous in workmanship.

This year’s Ancient City Lantern Festival has blended traditional lantern with elements of modern science and technology through a dazzling light and shadow impact to make the festival more ornamental. At the opening ceremony, a light and sound show turned the Songzhou Square into a beautiful visual. The unique lighting show was an immersive experience, bringing the ancient city alive. The Tibetan and Qiang, Hui and Han totem and the words ‘hometown of lanterns’ and ‘friendship gathering Songpan’ combined by UAVs reflected different colors of light in the night sky. The shapes in the sky danced around with the music enthralling the audience.

The lantern festival is held from September 20 to 22, which coincides with the Harvest Festival of Chinese Farmers, indicating that people of all ethnic groups in Songpan are content under the Rural Revitalization programme.

During the lantern festival, Songpan county will also hold ‘Harvest in Songpan • Memory of A Lamp’ traditional lantern dance competition, ‘Dancing in Songpan • A lamp Legend’ innovative lantern dance competition, and ‘smart Songpan • a lamp blooming’ lantern production competition. At the same time, a series of activities are being held — such as calligraphy and painting photography exhibition of ‘Pen and Ink of the Ancient City • Taste Songzhou’, ‘the Real Scene Performance of Wengcheng Legend’ and the lantern dance tour of ‘Flower Dance Ancient City • Lantern Reflecting Songzhou’ — to enable people to immerse themselves in the lantern culture, experience its history, understand the ethnic and religious culture of Songpan, and feel the uniqueness and gorgeous diversity of the ancient city.(By Edina Liang)