On the evening of January 22, Chang'an Avenue in Beijing was adorned with red lanterns.
[Photo via Beijing Daily]
Beijing will turn on landscape lighting facilities (from 17:40 to 24:00 every day) from January 27 (the 28th day of the 12th month in the traditional Chinese calendar) to February 4 (the 7th day of the 1st month in the traditional Chinese calendar) and February 12 (when the Lantern Festival is observed). All lights will not be turned off on January 28 (Chinese New Year's Eve) until 1:00 the following day.
More than 260,000 lanterns and other kinds of decorations will be hung throughout the city, with 2,969 landscape lighting facilities to be turned on, covering the Tian'anmen area, Chang'an Avenue and its extensions, Beijing Central Axis and its extensions, seven railway stations, two major airports, important business districts, landmarks, parks and other scenic attractions, communities and villages.
On the evening of January 22, the street next to Xinzhongguan Building was adorned with an installation themed "Beijing-Style Palace Lantern".
[Photo by Wang Jingxi from The Beijing News]
This year's landscape decorations will integrate several traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage techniques such as paper-cuttings, lanterns, and kites, along with a variety of folk customs and traditional elements like snake (the zodiac animal of the upcoming Chinese New Year) and Spring Festival couplets with the Chinese character "Fu" (福, which can be translated as "good fortune") to create lanterns of various shapes.
On January 22, Qianmen Street was brightly lit.
[Photo via Qianlong.com]
Sensor devices will be installed in the interactive photo area to improve interaction. This year's landscape arrangement will also make use of digital projection, electronic fireworks, AR, VR, and other technologies. A total of 10 landmarks, including the CCTV Tower, the Olympic Tower, the CBD Building Complex, Wangjing Building Complex, Zhongguancun Building Complex, Zhongguancun No. 1, Shougang Park, Lize Financial Business District, the Grand Canal Business District, and the Badaling Great Wall, will present Spring Festival-themed artistic light shows choreographed by computer.
(Sources: Beijing Daily, Qianlong.com, and The Beijing News)
