"Seeing the gigantic dragon (lantern) is an auspicious sign for many," says local youth Niu Yong. "So, I also posed for a picture with it."

The 300,000-square-meter museum, which is a national archaeological park, displays over 140 groups of lanterns with themes related to dragons, sun worship and ancient Shu culture. Shu is Sichuan's ancient name.

The Jinsha Ruins site on which the museum is located is home to a 3,000-year-old gold-leaf sunbird artifact excavated in 2001. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage adopted this golden disc as an official symbol of Chinese cultural heritage in 2005.