Zigong Lantern Festival is going viral! The Hua Mulan lantern set is the top trend of the Year of the Horse!

At the 2026 Zigong Year of the Horse Lantern Festival, the large-scale lantern installation Hua Mulan, the Heroine, with a White Horse quickly emerged as a viral internet sensation and must-visit check-in spot. The collision of traditional IP and modern lighting technology has reshaped the public’s perception of lantern festivals.

Centered on the narrative of “Mobilizing in the Year of the Horse, Achievements by Heroines", the installation vividly recreates the classic scene of Hua Mulan donning gilded armor and riding into battle. The nearly 20-meter-tall white horse is covered with translucent cloud patterns, its mane flowing like a waterfall in warm light. Hua Mulan’s figure, dominated by red and gold tones, features armor embedded with LED beads, while her 100-meter red cape billows like flames in the night. Paired with layered cloud and flower sea lanterns at its base, it creates an immersive journey through Chinese aesthetics.

Within just 3 days of its launch, related topics topped the trending lists on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Tourists’ spontaneous “group photos with Hua Mulan" flooded social media, driving a 62% year-on-year increase in overall festival attendance and a 50% month-on-month surge in orders for nearby homestays and cultural and creative stores. Its success lies in breaking free from the inertia of “stacking zodiac symbols": the dual cultural IP of “Year of the Horse + Hua Mulan" evokes emotional resonance, satisfying young people’s desire for “Chinese-style atmosphere" check-ins while leveraging its stunning visual scale to enhance memorability. It provides a replicable model for Zigong Lantern Festival to create future hits through “cultural narrative + immersive experience + viral traffic".