A big, bright snake-shaped lantern "smiles" at visitors at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP

Festive lights twinkled at Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden this New Year's Day as its annual lantern festival opened, charming visitors from far and wide.

This year's Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival prominently celebrates 2025 with bold, bright snake-shaped lantern installations. Other lantern displays at the festival include depictions of animals, forests, and mountains, mainly inspired by the over-2,000-year-old Chinese literature work "Classic of Mountains and Seas." Bearing the theme "Everything is beautiful, every life is marvelous," the festival runs until February 12, 2025.

A light display welcomes 2025 at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP

A coiled snake-shaped lantern glows at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP

A lantern glows at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP

A phoenix-shaped lantern with outspread wings glows at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP

A big, bright snake-shaped lantern "smiles" at visitors at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai on January 1, 2025. /CFP