Sky Lanterns and Longevity Lanterns--all more than 10-meter-high--were set up in imperial years for major celebrations. However, the shrinking treasury made the emperor to stop the costly tradition in 1840. 

Employees at the Palace Museum spent months rummaging historical files and the inventory of the museum to find models, original materials, and production methods for the lanterns. And they finally set them up in front of Palace of Heavenly Purity, a key structure in the Forbidden City, for this year's Spring Festival after a 179-year hiatus. 

New pairs of such lantern poles will be made this year, and are planned to be set up for every Spring Festival, which means this auction will be the only occasion of its type. 

Five pairs of smaller lanterns, which were also made for the exhibition and hung in the palace, were also put up for auction. The top price for them was 380,000 yuan.