Aerial photo shows night view of China Hangzhou Esports Center, a venue of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 24, 2022.  Photo: China News Service/Wang Gang

A splendid firework show is set to kick off in Hangzhou, East China's -Zhejiang Province, on Sunday, which is also -China's Lantern Festival, as a Spring Festival blessing for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will be held from September 23 to October 8.

Local media reported that the fireworks show will be held by the Asian Games Transport and Security Headquarters along the southern bank of the Qiantang River near the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, one of the Games' major venues. 

The 50-minute show will be comprised of a 20-minute warm-up light show and a 30-minute fireworks extravaganza.

The exciting news has triggered a craze among locals, who have rushed to book hotels, restaurants and tearooms near the Qiantang River in order to have a better view of the show.

It marks the first time the city has hosted such a fireworks show during the Lantern Festival since 2013, when the city put an end to similar shows out of concern for the environment.

"My friends, colleagues and I were very thrilled about the news, but we were too late to book a table at a restaurant near the spot as they have already been taken," Yu Yifan, a 37-year-old -local, told the Global Times on Wednesday.  He recalled that the last time he saw a fireworks show in Hangzhou was while studying at university and that the experience was "fascinating." 

"I haven't watched one in 11 years, but the memory is still fresh. The show was super gorgeous and surprising. My head exploded, and my heartbeat and the sound of the fireworks became synchronized," Fan Shenghua, a 60-something local man, told the Global Times on  Wednesday.

He added that the show is sure to be extremely crowded on Sunday as launching fireworks during the Lantern Festival is a long-standing tradition for Chinese to usher in good luck.

Surrounding river-view hotels, restaurants and teahouses are becoming hard to book during the festival right now. The river-view rooms at one hotel near the venue have been fully booked for Sunday, with prices ranging from about 2,000 yuan ($296) to about 5,800 yuan per night. 

The presidential suite at the hotel, which runs about 40,000 yuan a night, has also been booked. Nearby restaurants have no empty seat left to book.

"Our river-view rooms were fully booked for the night at the Lantern -Festival a long time ago," one hotel employee told media.

The 19th edition of the Asian Games was scheduled to take place in 2022 in Hangzhou, but was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.