A visitor takes selfies at the Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival in Budapest Zoo in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 16, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

A lantern festival opened here on Saturday as part of the celebrations for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon.

The festival showcases hundreds of heritage lantern art pieces from Zigong, a city in southwest China's Sichuan Province known for this traditional art form.

"Year 2024 also marks the 75th anniversary of Sino-Hungarian diplomatic relations," Sun Jie, counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Hungary, said at the event's opening ceremony.

Lanterns are displayed at the Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival in Budapest Zoo in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 16, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Sun expressed hope that this lantern festival will not only display a wonderful fusion of traditional Chinese culture and art, but also mark the vibrant commencement of diverse Sino-Hungarian cultural exchange activities in the new year.

Inside the garden and building of the Biodome on the Budapest Zoo's boulevard, following the lights from several hundred lanterns, one can step into the illuminated world of the Year of the Dragon, capturing the beauty of animals.

Visitors take photos at the Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival in Budapest Zoo in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 16, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Endre Sos, conservation and animal health director of the Budapest Zoo, said that many people in Europe may not have fully realized the immense creative potentials of the Chinese lantern art, noting that Chinese artists, with their exquisite skills, can create lanterns in almost any shape, which is truly remarkable.

The event is available every day between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time until Feb. 24. The Year of the Dragon starts on Feb. 10.