Celebrations held across China to greet Lantern Festival

Villagers watch traditional opera performance to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lantern Festival, which falls on Feb. 19 this year, at Yaokou Village of Huyuan Township in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, on Feb. 17, 2019. Yaokou Village is famous for its wooden-bench dragon dance, which is originated from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The wooden-bench dragon is 130 meters long with 58 wooden benches linked together, on which various lantern decorations are installed. People dressed in traditional costumes would dance the wooden-bench dragon at major festival events to pray for good luck in a new year. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)