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Watch China Daily's two-minute report from Jardin d'Acclimatation, where Year of the Dragon installations drew French families, captured on-camera visitor reactions, and documented the Chinese workshop process behind every piece.
This China Daily feature report documents the Chinese lantern festival held at Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris, celebrating the Year of the Dragon. The exhibition ran from December 15, 2023 to February 25, 2024, as part of the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations.
The report covers illuminated dragon displays, French visitor reactions, the craftsmanship behind handmade lanterns, and cultural performances including Sichuan opera face-changing and Chinese acrobatics. It was produced by China Daily, an English-language media organization, and is embedded here for reference and educational purposes. All rights belong to the original publisher.
What distinguishes this report from other coverage of the same festival is the segment filmed at the production base in China. The camera follows artisans welding steel frames, applying silk fabric, and hand-painting surface details — the process that turns raw steel and fabric into the illuminated forms visitors see in Paris.
According to the organizing committee, the Paris exhibition drew over 300,000 visitors across its 72-day run — roughly three times the venue's usual attendance — and generated nearly €2 million in direct revenue.
Wide shots of giant Chinese dragon lanterns, palace light sets, red lantern tunnels, and a sea of illuminated pieces across the park. The narration introduces the festival at Jardin d'Acclimatation in northern Paris and notes that thousands of Chinese lanterns lit up the amusement park.
The report highlights that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac. Coiled dragons, dragon palaces, and auspicious cloud motifs feature prominently throughout the exhibition, forming the festival's central visual narrative.
Several French families and children are interviewed on camera. A young visitor, Alexandre Frenech, describes his first impression: "Right at the very start, wow, it's super amazing!" Other visitors comment: "It's beautiful and magical" and "We visited some of the lanterns and they are incredible."
The camera cuts to the production base in China, showing artisans welding steel frames, applying silk fabric, hand-painting details, and assembling decorative elements. The narration emphasizes that many lanterns were handmade by Chinese craftsmen and transported from China to France for the exhibition.
Visitors take part in Sichuan opera face-changing, Chinese acrobatics, Hanfu costume experiences, and Chinese food. The report closes with narration on the festival's role as a bridge connecting French audiences with Chinese culture through the season.
Most media coverage of lantern festivals stays at the visitor level — crowds, reactions, night shots. This report goes further by filming inside the production base, showing what happens before any installation reaches the venue.
That segment is useful for planners evaluating a supplier, because it answers a question that visitor footage cannot: how is a piece actually built? The process shown here — steel frame welding, silk application, hand-painting, decorative assembly — is the same process documented across our other projects, whether the final installation stands in Paris, Houston, or Kuwait.
For planners weighing a custom commission, the takeaway is that the visual result depends on the manufacturing pipeline behind it. A festival that holds its quality across a 72-day run and 300,000 visitors is not built by accident. It comes from a workshop process that gets repeated for every piece.
For more on the craftsmanship behind these installations, visit the Chinese Lanterns page.
Q: What makes the Year of the Dragon theme significant for this lantern festival?
A: The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year, and 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is the most auspicious and culturally significant symbol in Chinese tradition, representing power, wisdom, and good fortune. The festival's design incorporated dragon imagery as its central narrative element.
Q: How are these lanterns made and transported?
A: As shown in the report, the lanterns are handmade by Chinese craftsmen — steel frame welding, silk pasting, hand-painting, and decorative assembly. Once completed, they are disassembled into modules, packed into shipping containers, and reassembled on-site at the exhibition venue.
Q: Can similar cultural festivals be organized in other countries?
A: Yes. LanternsArt provides full turn-key service — design, production, international logistics, and on-site installation — for festivals in over 80 countries. Each project is customized to the local cultural context and venue requirements.
0:00–0:25 — Opening shots of giant dragon lanterns, palace light sets, and red lantern tunnels. Narration introduces the festival at Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris and notes that thousands of Chinese lanterns illuminated the park.
0:25–0:50 — Dragon-themed installations shown in sequence. Narration explains the significance of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac and how the festival design centered on dragon imagery.
0:50–1:30 — French visitors interviewed on camera. Children and families react to the illuminated displays. One young visitor, Alexandre Frenech, says: "Right at the very start, wow, it's super amazing!" Other visitors describe the experience as beautiful, magical, and incredible.
1:30–2:10 — Behind-the-scenes footage from the production base in China: artisans welding steel frames, applying silk fabric, hand-painting details, and assembling decorative components. Narration emphasizes that the lanterns were handmade in China and shipped to France.
2:10–2:39 — Cultural performance segment: Sichuan opera face-changing, Chinese acrobatics, Hanfu costume experiences, and Chinese food. Closing narration on the festival's role in cultural exchange between France and China.