Yixian county, Huangshan city, East China's Anhui province, is noted for its "lantern gala", an important folk event held during traditional festivals. A research and education base was established in 2020 at Hongcun village, focusing on manufacturing craftsmanship and performing arts pertaining to traditional festive lanterns.

He Jixing, a municipal-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor in his late 30s, has been studying festive lantern-making skills for more than a decade. Apart from inheriting from local masters, he has also contributed his share of innovation by adopting from other lantern genres from around the country. Thanks to raw materials he helped to improve, lantern products there are now more durable than before.

He and his team have hosted hundreds of lantern-themed events over the past few years, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.