Zigong Lantern Museum

Zigong Lantern Museum

The Zigong Lantern Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

The China Lantern Museum is situated in Zigong Lantern Park at the heart of Zigong’s old city center. It is currently the only professional, state-owned museum in China and the world focused on lantern culture. As a national AAA-level tourist site, it is under the administration of the Zigong Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau. Approved by the National Cultural Heritage Administration in 1992, it officially opened to the public in 1994. The museum's name was inscribed by Zhu Muzhi, former Vice Minister of the Central Propaganda Department, while the inscription for the founding stele was penned by calligrapher Liu Qian. The main building covers a construction area of 6,375 square meters, and the attached park spans 10.3 hectares. It serves as a specialized institution for the “collection, preservation, research, and exhibition” of lantern cultural relics, as well as a comprehensive cultural park integrating gardens and recreational facilities.

The China Lantern Museum currently features four core thematic displays: the Introduction Hall, History of Chinese Lanterns, Chinese Lantern Culture and Customs, and the Zigong Lantern Festival. Its collection mainly consists of historical Chinese lantern artifacts, ethnically diverse Chinese lanterns, and modern lantern installations made from special materials. The core exhibition “The History of the Zigong Lantern Festival” combines scientific and educational elements, using extensive textual descriptions and precious historical photographs to illustrate the evolution of the Zigong Lantern Festival, the formation of lantern festival traditions, and the development of the modern Zigong Lantern Festival.

The museum hosts an exhibition on the Zigong Lantern Culture Export Demonstration Base, systematically summarizing the successful experiences of numerous Zigong lantern enterprises in domestic and international exhibitions. It provides a promotional platform and reception services for outstanding lantern culture export companies. Through the preservation, appreciation, and display of lantern cultural relics and intangible heritage techniques, the “China Lantern Cultural Museum Lecture Series” of public cultural education talks, the specialized book and resource library for academic reading, scholarly research exchanges, community education, and promotional outreach, the museum delivers a rich array of professional public cultural services.

Due to the establishment of the China Lantern Museum and its broad social impact, in 2004, the former Ministry of Culture designated the China Lantern Culture Development Park influenced by the museum as a National Cultural Industry Demonstration Base. In 2006, it was commended by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture as an advanced unit in foreign (Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) cultural exchange. In 2009, it was named a “National Key Enterprise for Cultural Exports (2009–2010)” by six national departments including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture.

Address: No. 6 Gongyuan Road, Zigong City

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China