The city of Datong put its festival lights through a test, on Jan 25, for the 2014 Datong Lantern Festival, to se how the 54 sets of colored lights responded and to guarantee a successful and on-time ceremony, on Feb 1.

The festival committee examined every detail of circuitry and safety procedures. Each set of colored lights has its own design and meaning, even though they all convey the same wishes to visitors. There is, for example, a "Dragon and horse spirit" set at the Yongtai Gate on the South City Wall, and a "Spring atmosphere in Datong" set in the city of Wengcheng city, while the city of Yuecheng gets a "Wishing you every success" set, and Ercheng a cartoon image set.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw