NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The second annual New York City Winter Lantern Festival kicked off on Wednesday, as thousands of colorful Chinese lanterns lit up a 10-acre area of the city's Staten Island borough.

Located at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, the 2019 festival is nearly double the scale of last year's, with some 50 sections of LED-lit lanterns in the shape of dinosaurs, palaces and Chinese zodiac animals, among other things.

Each lantern was handmade by craftspeople in southwest China's Sichuan Province, before being shipped to New York.

Lighting lanterns has been a Chinese holiday tradition for more than 2,000 years. The Chinese Lantern Festival is celebrated every year in winter and often concludes the celebrations of the Spring Festival, or the lunar new year.

The first Winter Lantern Festival, which was held at the same venue last year, turned out to be a huge success, with over 150,000 visitors swarming to Staten Island, a place not usually frequented by most New Yorkers due to its geographic location.

Liu Haokun, one of the festival's founders, said that as many as 200,000 visitors are expected before the festival comes to a close on Jan. 12, 2020.

"I'm so excited about the opening of the second edition of our festival," said Liu. "I hope more Americans will fall in love with Chinese lanterns and Chinese culture through this event."

Gail Middleton, a retired Staten Island resident who has traveled to many places in China and knows of the Chinese tradition of lantern lighting, described the festival as "stunning."

"It's nice to see the lantern of my zodiac sign, which is tiger," she said.

The amateur photographer added that she planned to come here again with friends. "I cannot recommend it enough. It's absolutely gorgeous," she said.

The festival is also a 2019 signature event of the China National Tourist Office in New York. Kuang Lin, chief of the office, said during a press conference earlier this month that he was full of expectation toward the festival.

"We sincerely welcome our American friends to Snug Harbor during the holiday season, and we hope they can also go to China someday to experience the beauty of the country," he said.