China celebrates colourful Lantern Festival

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Image caption, The event is also known as the Spring Lantern Festival in China

26 February 2021

Villages and cities all over China have been transformed into a sea of bright light to mark the end of Chinese New Year celebrations.

The Lantern Festival comes two weeks after Chinese New Year's day, which was on 12 February.

It is a time for family reunions and visits to crowded lantern-lighting shows and some riddle-solving.

But last year's festivities were muted because of the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Image caption, In Beijing, many visitors took selfies at a colourful lantern show in the capital

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Image caption, A rainy day did not stop these people from admiring beautiful lanterns in Wenzhou, eastern Zhejiang province

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Image caption, Performers in Wuhan - where the Covid outbreak is believed to have started - wore face masks as they prepared for the traditional dragon dance

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Image caption, This woman danced inside a huge red lantern in Shenyang, north-eastern Liaoning province

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Image caption, These train attendants - dressed in traditional costumes - played music and sang songs for passengers in Zhengzhou

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Image caption, Bearers brought out the traditional Chinese red sedan chairs in the central city of Enshi

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Image caption, In Chengdu, south-western Sichuan province, crowds flocked to see the lighting of LED lanterns

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Image caption, Dating back to the Han Dynasty, the 2,000-year old festival sees cities, such as Binzhou in northern Shandong province, transformed by lanterns and fireworks

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Image caption, Last year, many festivities were cancelled as China banned mass gatherings because of the coronavirus outbreak