With plenty of extra large lanterns in different shapes, hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists have been drawn to the Zigong Lantern Show in southwest China's Sichuan Province as the Lantern Festival arrived on Sunday.

During the Spring Festival holiday lasting from Jan 21 to 27, at least 20,000 to 30,000 visitors visited the show every day.

Near 50,000 tourists and residents are expected to come to the lantern show at Sunday night.

The city has therefore assigned more security guards and volunteers to keep the show going on in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, the open time for the show is also extended for the night, so more people will be able to enjoy these beautiful lights.

The lanterns which are above 15 meters high have accounted for 40 percent of the total in this year's Zigong Lantern Show.

The world tallest lantern in the shape of a rabbit, the symbol of the year, has a height of 26 meters. With its two legs weighing two tons, the whole set weighs about 85 tons. However, it can move steadily and smoothly.

"Before making the lantern, we needed to do careful mechanical and structural calculations based on the design. It also had to go through evaluation by experts and professional institutions. Then a solid base was built, and on top of the base, we set up the lighting sets. Actually at every Zigong lantern show, there are large lanterns with unique patterns, for instance, a porcelaneous lantern in shape of the Nine Dragon Ding (vessel) showcased at previous shows. It weighed 150 tons, and was hand-made using nearly a million pieces of porcelain ware," said Shen Hongyue, president of the Zigong Lantern Industry Association.

The Zigong Lantern Show has become a symbol of Chinese culture, carrying forward the Chinese traditional culture to the entire world.

In the past three decades, Zigong lanterns have been showcased in over 80 countries and regions worldwide, as well as in more than 500 cities nationwide.

Currently, the Zigong Lantern Show not only showcases creativity and Chinese characteristics, but also serves as a platform to demonstrate the advanced lighting technologies and mechanical devices.