SHENYANG, Feb. 16(Xinhuanet)-- China's international lantern show opened in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wednesday with a display of 140 groups of lanterns from 11 countries including Australia, Hungary and Japan.

The show is considered the largest of its kind in the country.

A contest will also be held at the show which will close on Feb.25. Organizers say that they would begin accepting votes from visitors for the most popular lantern work Wednesday.

The lantern show is a traditional Chinese folk activity held tocelebrate the Spring Festival-- the New Year on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar-- and other important festivals.

This year's Spring Festival celebrations began on Feb. 9 and will end on Feb. 23, also known as the Lantern Festival. In ancient China, people believed that they could use lanterns to scare and drive away evil spirits.