On the evening of Feb. 11th, (Dec. 28th of Lunar Calendar), a grand lighting ceremony was held in Bailuzhou Park of the Confucius Temple-Qinhuai Scenic Area. "2010 Jiangsu • Qinhuai Lantern Show" was officially opened. Last November, Governor Liang Baohua led a delegation to Taiwan for the "Taiwan Jiangsu Week" activity. During that period, Zhou Naixiang, Director-general of Jiangsu Tourism Bureau and Lai Sezhen, Chairman of Taiwan Tourism Association reached a development consensus of holding lantern shows together and organizing tourist groups to visit each other. "2010 Jiangsu • Qinhuai Lantern Show" is the first cross Taiwan Straits joint lantern festival, as the start of deepening communication and cooperation between the two sides of the straits. At the lantern show, several sets of Taiwan lanterns will be exhibited in Nanjing and large groups of people from Taiwan will visit Nanjing. As the most influential festival activity, Taiwan Lantern Show starts from 1990 and is held by different cities in turn every year. This year, handicraftsmen of Qinhuai will go to Jiayi, Taiwan, on behalf of Jiangsu. They will display 6 sets of lanterns themed by historical and cultural elements such as lotus, the memorial archway of the Confucius Temple, Twelve Beauties of Jinling from A Dream of Red Mansions. They will also present thousands of traditional lotus lanterns and tiger lanterns to compatriots in Taiwan.

Qinhuai Lantern Show has a long history. Starting from 1985, 25 sessions of Confucius Temple Lantern Show have been held. Features for this year include grand scene, ancient and modern flavors and innovation. (Longhoo. Net)