Reaching more than 80 countries and regions, occupying 92% of the overseas light show market

Zigong lanterns shine all over the world

The Chinese Lantern Festival held by Zigong Lantern Group in Nashville, USA.

In December 2023, the “Fantasy World, Fantasy Journey” Chinese Lantern Festival will be held in Montauban, France.

In November 2023, Christmas lights made by craftsmen from Zigong, Sichuan, were lit up in Cardiff, England. All pictures in this article are provided by the interviewees

Zigong, Sichuan, is a city that never sleeps during the Spring Festival. From a distance, the city seems to be wearing a gorgeous dress made of colorful lights, with light and shadows flowing, as if dancing.

The 30th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival was very lively at the China Lantern World Scenic Area - the park opened and lit up on February 2, and as of February 11, the number of visitors to the park had reached 373,500.

The lanterns are the business card of this city and an important engine for local economic development: making and selling lanterns, curating exhibitions and organizing conferences, there are thousands of lantern-related companies, with an annual output value of about 6 billion yuan, and a domestic lantern exhibition market share of 85%. Over the past 30 years, the Zigong Lantern Festival has been held in more than 80 countries and regions.

Exploiting advantages to build chains and expand sales

In the production workshop of Zigong Longteng Culture and Art Co., Ltd., welding sparks are flying, and the skeleton of a Chinese dragon is taking shape. On the other side, the paperhangers collage and color the dragon scales, and the lanterns gradually show their charm.

From designing the image and drawing the blueprint, to selecting the right materials to make the shape, arranging the light source and transmission facilities, to completing the paperhanging, pasting and painting... the production process of lanterns is complicated and there is a great demand for skilled workers. "The Zigong lantern industry can drive 100,000 jobs during the festival period, plus temporary employment," said Deng Peilin, chairman of the company.

As early as the Spring Festival in 1964, the first Spring Festival Lantern Festival in Zigong was lit up, and the city has been connected with lanterns since then. "We are an industrial city with salt, chemical and machinery as the main industries. We have a complete range of industries and many skilled craftsmen." Shen Hongyue, president of the Zigong Lantern Industry Association, told reporters that in the early years, the lantern festival was sponsored by the government and enterprises and institutions made lanterns for exhibition. "Artists, fitters, electricians and other types of workers collaborated to complete it. The lantern festival is not only for festival entertainment, but also to show the achievements of production and construction to the public." After years of development, the division of labor in the design, production and exhibition of Zigong lanterns has become increasingly refined, giving birth to professional teams and accumulating industrial potential. In the constantly improving industrial chain, thousands of related companies have a complete division of labor and classification, and each plays its role. "The raw materials needed for lanterns such as fiberglass and craft lanterns can be fully supplied locally, so there is no worry about production." Deng Peilin's company specializes in the design and manufacture of lanterns. Taking advantage of its technological advantages, its business scope has expanded to multiple directions such as night landscaping and simulated dinosaurs. The workshop management board is full of orders, many of which come from abroad. "The Zigong Lantern Fair has become well-known, and has promoted the appearance of lantern products in important exhibitions such as the Canton Fair and major international sales platforms, so that good products have good sales channels." Deng Peilin said.

Establishing industry associations, formulating self-discipline conventions, setting up professional titles, and publishing salary guidance prices for practitioners... In recent years, Zigong City has taken many measures to guide the healthy development of the lantern industry. "The disorderly competition between enterprises has decreased, and the business atmosphere has improved." Shen Hongyue is very confident about the future of the lantern industry.

Innovative skills and adherence to craftsmanship

Under the illumination of fireworks and lights, the huge mechanical Nian beast shook its head and roared from time to time. At this year's Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival, the high-tech "Nian Beast New Year" lantern group attracted many viewers to stop and appreciate.

"The lantern group is made by combining colored lantern craftsmanship with simulated dinosaur mechanical transmission. Although it weighs more than 10 tons, it can flexibly complete more than a dozen movements." Zhong Yi, the chief planner of this lantern festival, introduced that the Nian beast is also equipped with an "AI brain" and can interact with tourists through voice questions and answers.

Every year's lantern festival is not only the "final exam" of Zigong's colored lantern industry, but also a promotion meeting. Excellent craftsmanship, lamp-making materials and design concepts are concentrated in front of the audience and merchants at the lantern festival.

New materials are constantly introduced, and "everything can become a lamp." The magnificent "Dream Flying" lantern group embodies many innovative attempts. In order to enhance the visual effect, water-soluble resin was used for the first time to shape the characters, making the faces of the characters almost like real people; the clouds under the feet of the fairy were innovatively decorated with polyurethane foam, which was light and bright.

The design concept is also iteratively updated. The characters of popular games and trendy IPs sit on the lantern car, and the "trendy" lantern festival is loved by young audiences. Not limited to warm colors such as red and yellow, the lantern festival tries diversified colors, using spray guns and airbrushes to depict color gradients to create a colorful visual effect.

It is reported that the Zigong lantern industry has more than 160 patents and more than 7,000 lantern copyrights. "Innovation is the soul of the lantern festival and the source of industrial competitiveness." Zhong Yi said that in 2023, Zigong lantern companies will undertake more than 200 lantern projects in various places.

Continuous innovation is inseparable from talent support. Relying on Sichuan University of Science and Chemical Engineering to establish the first lantern college in China, and setting up lantern majors in Zigong Vocational and Technical College and other colleges, Zigong has improved the four-level lantern talent training system of "secondary vocational school-junior college-undergraduate-graduate", and can cultivate more than 2,000 "lantern craftsmen" every year. "Continuous blood-making will provide inexhaustible motivation for cultural inheritance and industrial development." Zhang Fanglai, deputy researcher of the China Lantern Museum, said.

Lanterns are varied in style, but the craftsmanship remains unchanged. At this lantern festival, a dazzling and exquisite lantern peacock attracted much attention. Its creator is 58-year-old craftsman Liu Juncai. In order to make the peacock realistic, Liu Juncai and the workers cut and made feathers as thin as hair. A single tail feather requires more than 3,000 cuts, and thick calluses are worn on their hands. "It's worth it to be able to produce good works." Liu Juncai said.

Set sail for exchanges and mutual learning

On February 11, a Chinese Lantern Festival named "Fantasy World, Fantasy Journey" came to an end in Montauban, France. The lanterns from the far east attracted more than 300,000 visitors. The large number of visitors and the fact that this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France make Huang Mingshu, the captain of the overseas engineering team of Zigong Lantern Group, who participated in the French Lantern Festival, feel very accomplished.

Last September, Huang Mingshu and his team went to France for an exhibition. "We have more than 80 people, including all the types of work required for the design, production and installation of lanterns." The materials and semi-finished products for making lanterns are delivered by China-Europe trains or sea transport. After the team arrives, they are further processed and the lantern group is made in about 3 months.

In 1990, Zigong lanterns went abroad for the first time to Singapore for exhibition. Since then, Zigong Lantern Festival has set sail for more than 80 countries and regions, occupying 92% of the overseas lantern exhibition market share. In 2023, Zigong lantern enterprises carried out 90 overseas lantern projects and achieved cultural exports of 50.61 million US dollars.

Huang Mingshu has been engaged in overseas lantern exhibitions for more than 20 years. He has visited many countries and accumulated a lot of experience: the technology and safety standards of various countries are different, and Chinese craftsmen need to work hard to adapt; many overseas audiences pay more attention to the design and craftsmanship details of lanterns, so the works cannot be sloppy. Zigong established the Lantern Metaverse R&D Center, which widely used technologies such as holographic projection and laser water curtain movies in overseas lantern festivals. "The lantern festival must be safe and amazing." Huang Mingshu said.

Not long ago, Lantern Group received an email from Alanka, a French audience. Alanka said that she has visited lantern festivals in various parts of France for many years and is a loyal "fan" of Chinese culture. She is holding a wedding this year and hopes to put up Chinese giant panda lanterns on the scene.

"We agreed to Alanka's request." Li Zhongwen, general manager of the international marketing department of Lantern Group, said, "To make more foreign audiences like Chinese lanterns, we must not only tell Chinese stories well, but also use lantern art to express local culture."

At the lantern festival held in France this time, tourists can walk into a fantasy world composed of scenes such as the vast sea of stars and mysterious forests under the guidance of a magical magic hat. Chinese scenery, giant pandas and other elements are interspersed, and Chinese and Western cultural elements are successfully linked. "We introduced cartoon characters such as Snoopy and Peter Rabbit to the lantern festival, and also interpreted the picture books of foreign writers with lanterns. These exhibits are deeply loved by foreign audiences." Li Zhongwen introduced.

On the way to the sea, there is solid backing support. In recent years, Zigong City has provided precise foreign-related legal services to enterprises in response to the many legal disputes and financing difficulties faced by lantern enterprises. It has innovatively launched exclusive credit products such as "Lantern Cultural Operation Quick Loan" and "Lantern e-Loan", and has issued a total of 2.622 billion yuan in loans to lantern enterprises.

In 2023, Zigong successfully established a national foreign cultural trade base and ushered in more development opportunities. "We will continue to work hard in the areas of enterprise agglomeration development and intellectual property protection, and continue to expand the lantern industry to make Zigong lanterns brighter." Chen Jinhong, director of the Zigong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, said.