Tourists visit Plum Garden for the annual lantern show. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

Plum Garden in Wuxi is scheduled to run its annual lantern event from Sept 17 to Oct 18 to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, which runs from Sept 25 to 27.

This year draws on The Classic of Mountains and Seas, an ancient Chinese compendium of myths and geography. More than 20 large lantern installations, built by craftsmen from Zigong, a city known for its lantern-making tradition, are set to be placed throughout the garden.

Rendering of this year's lantern event. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

The mythical theme fits the garden's own topography of hills, streams and groves, making walks through the grounds feel like stepping into the legendary world described in the text. A grand gateway and towering figures of fantastic beasts are among the highlights, with this year's workmanship said to be finer than in previous editions.

A new attraction this year is "walking lanterns", Performers in heavy, custom-made costumes of mythical creatures will move along set routes at scheduled times, stopping for photos and close-up encounters with visitors.

Rendering of this year's lantern event. [Photo provided to gowuxi.com]

The festival also features an aerial acrobatics program, including flying lanterns, a fire show, and meteor juggling, all performed against the glowing installations.

For the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holidays, a local band will give a concert, and fireworks displays are set to light up the sky on selected evenings.

If you go

Daytime: 7 am – 4 pm (last entry 4 pm; tickets until 3:30 pm)

Nighttime: 5 pm – 9 pm (last entry 8:30 pm; tickets from 4:30 pm)

Admission: 60 yuan ($8.94) per session, sold separately.