One Cat Generator. That’s all it took to light up the night sky—and the faces of hundreds of residents in China’s Yuhu Village. Their smiles, joy and wonder as they experience Lantern Festival in their village are all captured in “Lantern Festival,” the latest short film in the Built For It Trials.
The video follows residents of Yuhu Village, an isolated community in Yunnan Province, as they prepare to bring light to their annual celebration of Lantern Festival, a tradition that dates back more than 2,000 years. In China, lanterns symbolize prosperity and good fortune, and every year, people throughout the country gather together to light them in celebration of the beginning of spring.
Keeping that tradition alive was challenging in Yuhu, where most of the village’s 380 families had indoor power but limited outside electricity—until the 252,000-watt generator set was installed.
Over the course of 10 days, Yuhu villagers worked together to hang 8,840 lanterns, strung together with almost 7.5 miles (12,000 meters) of wire. At the same time, the Cat gen set slowly made its way up the narrow, winding roads to the village, which is nestled into the side of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain at 7,900 feet (2,408 meters) of elevation.
Watch the video to see what happens when the gen set arrives, the power’s switched on and the celebration begins.
