The 2014 Datong Lantern Festival, Feb 1 - 16, in the city of Datong, Shanxi province, has become a new cultural brand for the city, as a way to breathe more festivity and culture into local people’s lives, and a way to bring the old city more attention worldwide.

A team from China Central Television(CCTV) recorded the lantern festival show and played it live on the CCTV-9 channel, to give people outside a taste of the charm and beautifully of Datong.

The first day of the Lantern Festival alone had pulled in almost 20,000 visitors who came to enjoy the show, many of them foreign tourists, who happened to be in China or wanted to see a traditional Chinese New Year.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw