One of China's top lantern shows, the 32nd Qinhuai Lantern Festival, is currently underway in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

As its history can be traced back to the Southern dynasty (420-589), the show is also renowned as the earliest lantern festival celebrated in China.

Lasting from February 2 to March 31, this year a total of 234 sets of colorful lanterns will be displayed in some popular scenic spots of Nanjing, including the Ming Dynasty City Wall, the Confucius Temple and the Imperial Examination Museum.

Wu Yi (R), curator assistant of the Imperial Examination Museum, poses for a photo with Liu Yuewu, a China Daily staffer after a short conversation at the 32nd Qinhuai Lantern Festival held in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province on March 2. [Photo by Han Jingjing/chinadaily.com.cn]

"Being part of the whole show for 32 years, the Imperial Examination Museum, the largest venue for the imperial examinations in ancient China, has specially set up several themed lighting fixtures in accordance with our cultural characteristics of that time," said Wu Yi, curator assistant of the museum during the 2018 Lantern Festival, which fell on March 2.

One that she mentioned in our conversation was "Du Zhan Ao Tou", which refers to taking the first place at the triennial palace examination and the person who made it is known as "zhuangyuan". "This set of lanterns was placed on the observation deck at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Museum and offers people a chance to experience acting as Zhuangyuan. It adds interactivity and makes our lanterns more attractive to tourists."

An Italian flight attendant (L) poses for a photo with a friend at the 32nd Qinhuai Lantern Festival held in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province on March 2. [Photo by Han Jingjing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Not far from the west of the Imperial Examination Museum is the Confucius Temple, the core of the lantern show which more than 580,000 tourists from both home and abroad made sure to visit during this year's Lantern Festival, according to longhoo.net.

A young flight attendant from Italy was one of the foreigners we?came across?that day. "We read about it (the Qinhuai Lantern Festival) on the internet, because in Europe, we have a lot of Chinese people living. They celebrated Chinese New Year Eve over there, so it's very famous." After viewing the lanterns around the Confucius Temple, she said it's a very interesting show and wanted to search for more places to see more lanterns.

"Lantern festival in Nanjing is unique because it combines humanity with the modernization of electric arts. To my astonishment, the lanterns on sale are of higher aesthetic taste year by year," said a local surnamed Liu.

Visitors purchase their favorite Lantern Festival ornaments at the 32nd Qinhuai Lantern Festival held in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province on March 2. [Photo by Han Jingjing/chinadaily.com.cn]