In this quiet inland city of China, ZiGong, amazing art latterns made out of every day objects can be found. A lattern festival is held regularly, typically 1-3 years, since 1970s. Each major companies, big or small, sponsors a lattern. I am not talking about the red lantern you typically see in a Chinese movie, though they are abundant during the festival. The lattern here is a huge object with hundreds, thousands of lights attached to it. This dragon lattern in the picture is made out of ceramics spoons, plates and bowls – millions of them. It probably has taken workers several months to make it. It is such a beauty though.
As a innand city, ZiGong lacks convenient transportation and unqiue resources to support it local economy. This lattern festival is unique, but is it unique to attract tourism to drive a few hour to see it? Possiblly. But it seems it has not been turned into a hugely profitable venue for the local government. Nevertheless, for the time being, I am still a big fan of the art.
