The lights of Longleat

Longleat may be famous for its lions but is fast becoming as well known for its light displays - which come all the way from China.

Watch last year's display, courtesy of Longleat/Jamiebeard.tv here:

The Wiltshire attraction is staging the biggest Chinese lantern festival ever seen in Europe.

More than 20,000 individual lanterns, will transform the Wiltshire estate into an illuminated winter wonderland - bringing a little bit of the Far East into the West Country.

It looks beautiful - but business brought the lanterns here. Longleat's Canadian Chief Executive explains the commercial value of the Chinese display.

When the historic house was built in the 16th century, on the other side of the world, the Ming Dynasty ruled. And it looks as if the Chinese have taken over here.

One of the highlights is this temple. It looks like a building but it is actually made of spoons and cups and plates. 80,000 pieces of porcelain were tied together, craned into position and then lit up. It is painstaking stuff.

Our helicam footage shows the extent of these amazing creations.

The show runs until January. You can find out more about the Festival of Light here.