Talent training

The city's lantern sector had swelled 60-fold, from 35 companies in 2000 to more than 2,000 companies as of March last year, creating demand for makers.

To this end, the local government commissioned top artisans, including Wan, with compiling a textbook on Zigong lantern making in 2017, the first of its kind in the traditional lantern industry.

In 2018, the city government teamed up with the Sichuan University of Science and Engineering and the Zigong Lantern Group, a conglomerate of local firms, to establish the Chinese Lantern College, an institution for training industry professionals and conducting research and development. In the meantime, 25 work placement centers have been set up at lantern companies to provide hands-on learning opportunities.

To stoke wider interest, the committee of the Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival launched a contest calling on children around the world to submit lantern designs. The winning designs are then made by local craftsmen and exhibited at the festival.

To prevent Zigong lanterns from ending up in glass cases on display, the fate of many heritage items, Wan advocates adopting new technologies and absorbing new ideas and concepts.

Designers got their hands on AI-powered design generation tools at the start of this year, and digital lighting technology has been widely integrated into modern lantern festivals.

"Only passing on the tradition is not enough. We need to continue innovating to keep Zigong lanterns bright, and up to date," Wan emphasizes, adding that he likes going to fashionable areas in cities like Paris and Shanghai to see public sculptures and commercial art displays at department stores to gain inspiration.

Since 2015, his company has also been collaborating with the Lyon Festival of Lights, a four-day annual event in France in December, which is held in honor of the Virgin Mary for saving the city from plague and dates back to the 17th century.

Based on his experience of previous festivals in Lyon, Wan says that compared to French illuminations, which integrate light and music, and keep visitors entranced for hours, Zigong lanterns need artistic enhancement to resonate better with audiences.

Each year, he invites a French light artist to Zigong for deeper exchange, and this year, he introduced the artist to the Chinese Lantern College, which decided to hire the man as a guest professor.

"I am excited to have facilitated this. Even though it is only a beginning, I am looking forward to seeing more breakthroughs in creative design for the lanterns," Wan says.