The 2025 Shanghai Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival will kick off on January 1st, continuing the story of “The Amazing Tales of Mountains and Seas.”
The 2025 Shanghai Yuyuan Lantern Festival will kick off on January 1, continuing the story of “The Amazing Journey of Mountains and Seas.” On December 17, the press conference for the 2025 Yuyuan Folk Art Lantern Festival and the special exhibition commemorating 30 years of the Yuyuan Lantern Festival was held at Yuyuan Mall in Shanghai. According to the organizers, the lantern festival will run from January 1 to February 12, lasting a total of 42 days.
The 2025 Yuyuan Lantern Festival will continue the narrative of “The Amazing Journey of Mountains and Seas,” focusing on the jungle chapter that depicts a harmonious scene between the Year of the Snake and various birds and beasts in the mountains and forests.
The festival will implement ticketed entry split by time segments. “Regular days” are designated from Monday to Thursday (excluding specified holidays) as well as January 26 and February 7. Ticket viewing hours are from 16:00 to 22:00, with ticket prices set at 50 yuan for adults and 30 yuan for children. “Peak days” are from Friday to Sunday (excluding January 26 and February 7) and on holidays (including New Year’s Day on January 1, Spring Festival from January 29 to February 4, and Lantern Festival on February 12). The ticket viewing hours for these days are from 14:00 to 22:00, with ticket prices being 80 yuan for adults and 50 yuan for children. Notably, the lanterns will not be lit on January 28 (New Year’s Eve). Early bird tickets for the festival will be available starting at 15:00 on December 18, offering a 30% discount.
Titled “The Amazing Journey of Mountains and Seas: Jungle Chapter,” the 2025 Yuyuan Lantern Festival will present “The Amazing Journey of Mountains and Seas” story. The Snake Year lantern festival will feature four major gates of passage and five themed scenes, showcasing the Year of the Snake intermingling harmoniously with various wildlife.
At the golden square of the festival, a Tree of Life will symbolize the intimate relationship between humanity and nature. The surrounding area will be transformed into a Butterfly Valley, embodying the dreamlike state of “Zhuang Zhou dreaming of butterflies.” The central square will display a lively jungle scene representing “harmony between heaven, earth, and humanity.” Entering the Nine Curves Bridge feels like stepping into an adventure-filled “jungle paradise.” Meanwhile, Yuyuan Old Street will highlight 30 years of lantern history at the festival by meticulously recreating classic designs from China’s top ten lantern styles, offering an immersive experience reminiscent of “flower markets lit as bright as day.”
As a representative of Chinese folk culture, the brilliance of the Snake Year Yuyuan Lantern Festival will extend to several cities across the country, including Shanghai, Sanya in Hainan, Shenyang in Liaoning, and Shehong in Sichuan, all lighting up as the New Year arrives.
Since its inception in 1995 and recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival has become a signature cultural event for the Spring Festival in China. The 2025 festival is guided by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, organized by Yuyuan Corporation, and supported by the Huangpu District Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
Additionally, a special exhibition titled “Not Just Lanterns,” showcasing 13 ancient lanterns and 10 pieces of New Year paintings, will open on the same day as the lantern festival. This exhibition runs from January 1 to February 28 at the Huabao Building, third floor, of Yuyuan Mall, marking Shanghai’s first lantern cultural art exhibition.
The “Not Just Lanterns” exhibition features rare treasures of ancient lanterns from a museum collection, many of which have never been displayed to the public before. Spanning from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, every lantern carries distinct marks and styles emblematic of its era.
The development of Chinese lantern festival customs and lantern art is closely tied to the traditional Spring Festival. The exhibition includes ten exquisite paintings from the Shanghai Library, recreating scenes from the festivities of the old town in Shanghai a century ago, centered around the Yuyuan area using light and shadow technology.
Ticketing information: Regular day adult tickets are priced at 50 yuan each, while peak day tickets are 80 yuan each. The Yuyuan Lantern Festival will run from January 1 to February 12, implementing time-segmented ticket entry. Visitors can purchase tickets online via the official ticketing platform: the Ticket Planet app and mini-program. On regular days (Monday to Thursday, excluding specified holidays, as well as January 26 and February 7), tickets are 50 yuan for adults and 30 yuan for children, with viewing hours from 16:00 to 22:00. On peak days (Friday to Sunday, excluding January 26 and February 7, as well as holidays including New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, and Lantern Festival), tickets are priced at 80 yuan for adults and 50 yuan for children, with viewing hours from 14:00 to 22:00.
Additionally, on January 28 (New Year’s Eve), the festival will not feature any lighting. Early bird tickets, available from December 18 at 15:00, will offer a 30% discount, priced at 35 yuan for regular days and 56 yuan for peak days (all adult tickets). Limited early bird tickets are available and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The basic ticket price for the “Not Just Lanterns” exhibition is 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children, while VR and AI photography experiences are not included in the base ticket price and require separate purchase.
