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Lantern festival features energy consumption reduction

By Huang Zhiling (China Daily Sichuan Bureau)
Updated: 2011-01-14 14:23

The 17th Zigong International Lantern Festival will kick off in Zigong, a city in the southern part of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The festival, which will end in early March, will witness the display of lanterns in the city's Caideng Park and 22 streets.

According to Shen Hongyue, an official in the festival organizing committee, 80 percent of the lanterns will use LED and other energy-saving lights, compared with 40 percent in the previous festival.

It means a reduction of energy consumption by 60 percent, he said.

Zigong, which is best known for its production of salt dating back to 2,000 years and dinosaur fossils dating back to hundreds of millions of years, has held the lantern festival for 800 years, according to Chen Jiming, deputy mayor of Zigong.