The lantern designed according to story of Zheng He Photo: Courtesy of Lin Tianhong

Mawei-Matsu Lantern Festival - the first national-level intangible cultural heritage (ICH) to connect both sides of the Taiwan Straits - will officially open on Thursday in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province. Featuring lanterns of various shapes from both the mainland and Taiwan, this annual event serves as a platform for residents across the Straits to celebrate the Spring Festival together.

With the first "world ICH edition" of the Spring Festival just around the corner, the 23rd Mawei-Matsu Lantern Show receives a major upgrade this year. It will run for an impressive 53 days, the longest it has ever run, according to a press release from the publicity department of the Mawei district of Fuzhou.

Divided into six major sections, the show features over 130 large- and medium-sized lantern displays. 

It focuses on showcasing maritime and shipyard culture of Fujian, the local folk culture and cultural exchanges between Fujian and the island of Taiwan. 

The lanterns on display at the event were inspired by contemporary Chinese art while integrating with local folk culture. The lantern show aims to create an immersive night tour experience that combines lantern viewing, folk culture experiences and blessings for the new year.

The lantern of goddess Mazu Photo: Courtesy of Lin Tianhong

To enhance the atmosphere of this grand occasion for people across the Straits to celebrate and strengthen ties together, the Mawei district and Matsu in Taiwan have exchanged lanterns as tradition and artistic performances with local characteristics will also be presented for residents across the Straits, Lin Tianhong, chief planner of the lantern show, told the Global Times on Wednesday.  

Lin introduced that besides lanterns of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, another set of lanterns named "High-speed Rail Connecting Both Sides," a snake-shaped, high-speed train linking the two major cities of Beijing and Taipei, also symbolizes the close ties between people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

To build more grand scenes with lanterns, a park in the Mawei district was transformed into a stage spanning around 40,000 square meters. Among the highlights is a large water surface lantern display. 

In the center of the lake at the park, three massive light installations that showcase historical and mythological themes such as Zheng He's voyage to the West during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are arranged in sequence, creating a stunning water mural over 150 meters in length. In this area, audiences can wander through a bustling Ming Dynasty port, gaze up at Zheng's enormous treasure ship, and take photos with the "exotic animals" brought back by the fleet.

Lin said that Fuzhou is a city overflowing with stories. His creative team has deeply explored local cultural elements and let their imaginations run wild. 

By harnessing popular artistic forms and creative expressions, they have reinvented these historical stories. 

"You could say that each light installation has its own cultural background, allowing people to instantly recognize that they are in Mawei and Matsu."

The Mawei-Matsu Lantern Festival participated in the application for the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list with other social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year, the Fuzhou Daily reported.

"Chinese New Year is an important time to unite the emotional beliefs of all Chinese people, and it is a common Chinese cultural symbol. These intangible cultural heritages can make more people feel the charm of Chinese New Year," Xiao Fang, head of the Department of Anthropology and Folklore Studies at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times.