Since July 24th, groups of Zigong lanterns have been unveiled at the "China House" of the 2024 Paris Olympics, showcasing the artistic charm of Zigong lanterns and telling the story of China to the world, including the colorful and exquisite "Paris Olympics mascot Frege", the dazzling "Eiffel Tower", and the furry "giant panda".

The 'Treaty of the East' on the banks of the Seine River

This spring, in the "Chinese Lantern City" of Zigong, the 30th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival beautified the entire city, attracting not only tourists from all over the country but also widespread attention from the international community.

Thanks to this, Zigong lanterns actively go abroad, constantly enriching and expanding the international expression of China's excellent traditional culture, and continuously promoting the cross-border integration development strategy of "lantern+" and "lantern+lantern", helping Zigong lanterns shine on larger, wider, and more international platforms and national stages.

The concept of "Olympics+Zigong Lantern Festival" has initially taken shape.

The Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece more than 2000 years ago and is the most influential sports event in the world, with its international influence self-evident. Zigong is one of the first national cultural export bases in China and has rich experience in international trade. As a national intangible cultural heritage, Zigong Lantern Festival has been exhibited in more than 80 countries and regions around the world and is loved by people all over the world. If the two can "hold hands", it can be said that it is the right time to achieve beauty!

In April of this year, a group from the Education and Sports Bureau of Zigong City went to the General Administration of Sport of China to report on the development of the sports industry in Zigong, and highlighted the promotion of Zigong lanterns.

The first 'China House' was established during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. After more than 10 years of exploration and practice, its content has been continuously enriched. It not only provides a solid guarantee for the Chinese sports delegation to compete in international competitions, but also builds a good platform for promoting the spirit of Chinese sports, showcasing traditional Chinese culture, and strengthening sports exchanges between China and foreign countries. The person in charge of the Sports Industry Department of the Municipal Education and Sports Bureau told reporters that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and the 'China House' is a window for showcasing Chinese culture at the Paris Olympics. It is hoped that the national intangible cultural heritage 'Zigong Lantern Festival' can bloom during this event, cheering and bringing Olympic elements with more traditional Chinese characteristics to athletes and spectators to enjoy the colorful lights.

Upon hearing this idea, the Sports Equipment Center of the General Administration of Sport of China immediately expressed support and agreement for the "Zigong Lantern Festival for the Olympics".

After returning to Zigong, the Municipal Education and Sports Bureau and Zigong Guotou Group Co., Ltd. jointly implemented relevant work and officially sent an introduction letter and lighting effect pictures to the Sports Equipment Center of the General Administration of Sport of China in early May.

Subsequently, the General Administration of Sport of China proposed modifications to the design details of the mascot light group. At the end of May, after multiple revisions and improvements, the design plan for the lantern group was finalized, and the plan for "Olympic+Zigong Lantern" was finalized. Zigong Lantern will enter the Summer Olympics for the first time in the "Sports+" mode.

Traditional Intangible Cultural Heritage and Modern Olympics' Hand in Hand '

How to combine national intangible cultural heritage with modern Olympic elements to create a unique spark?

In the production of the mascot lamp group, the lantern craftsmen chose representative traditional techniques of the Zigong Lantern Festival - three-dimensional silk frame modeling and glass medicine bottle bundling, to recreate the mascot in a 1:1 ratio.

Deng Hongjin, a lantern craftsman with nearly 30 years of experience, is mainly responsible for the production of "medicine bottle lanterns". He told reporters that this unique lantern making technique originated from the first Zigong Spring Festival Lantern Festival in 1964, where various colored liquids were poured into thumb sized glass medicine bottles and then tied and fixed with thin wire. This technique not only turns waste into treasure, but also endows the lamp group with a colorful and exquisite beauty, "said Deng Hongjin.

On July 24th, in the "China House" of the Paris Olympics at the Solomon Rothschild Mansion in Paris, France, when the "Fritsch" lantern set, made up of 12000 glass medicine bottles tied together, was unveiled in front of athletes and tourists from various countries, it attracted a wave of astonishment and received a "click click click click" photo show. Zigong lanterns have once again ushered in a shining moment!

Accompanying the "Freji" lantern group is a cute giant panda doll. They hold hands to welcome everyone's arrival, not only cleverly showcasing the cultural integration between China and France, but also reflecting the friendship and inclusiveness in the Olympic spirit.

Very popular! It has attracted the attention and coverage of media such as the European Times, "said a person in charge of the Municipal State Investment Group regarding the response to the appearance of Zigong lanterns.

The combination of the national intangible cultural heritage of the millennium old Salt City with modern Olympic elements is a successful example of cultural and sports integration. The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Education and Sports Bureau stated that Zigong has the "Three Wonders of Large and Small" and the characteristic culture of Yanbang cuisine, and will actively promote Zigong culture on international platforms.

Expand the 'circle of friends' and' hold hands' with the world

Actively "going global" through the medium of "lights" and telling the story of China with colorful lights is precisely the "Zigong practice" of strengthening international communication capacity building and exploring Chinese culture to better go global.

In 2018, Zigong was recognized as one of the first national cultural export bases in China, and is the only city in the Chengdu Chongqing economic circle to receive this honor.

In 2020, after a calm period of thinking about the COVID-19, in the face of new situations and new characteristics, Zigong proposed to break the situation with the cross-border integrated development strategy of "colored lights+", "+colored lights", "colored lights into families and communities", and seek to transform and upgrade Zigong's colored light industry.

This year, Zigong lanterns successfully lit up the third China International Import Expo, and a number of international lantern exhibition projects resumed one after another. The 'Chinese Lantern City' shines brightly and becomes even more dazzling.

In recent years, Zigong has continued to expand and strengthen the "Zigong Lantern Festival" brand, cultivating a large number of cultural enterprises with strong market competitiveness, and building a high-quality national cultural export base. Among the key enterprises and projects of national cultural export bases for 2023-2024 announced by the Ministry of Culture, 12 lantern enterprises and 5 projects from Zigong have been shortlisted, accounting for half of the total in the province.

In the first half of this year, Zigong City achieved cultural exports of 27.7134 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 23.06%. Among them, the export of cultural products was 11.0833 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 27.56%; Cultural service exports amounted to 16.6301 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.03%.