Are planning your China tour during China lunar new year (Spring Festival)? Lantern Festival is an important part of Spring Festival. Lantern Festival is also called Yuanxiao Festival or Shangyuan Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month. It is one of the most important traditional Festivals of China. The Chinese Lunar New Year comes to an end when the Lantern Festival sets in. The first month of the Chinese calendar is called yuan month, and in ancient times people called night xiao; therefore, the day is called Yuanxiao Festival in China.
(The street was dressed out with thousands of lanterns on Lantern Festival.)
(one of the animal lanterns – fish lantern)
Guess riddles at the lanter festival
Dragon Dance
Lion Dance
People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings on Lantern Festival, so it is also called the “Yuanxiao Festival.”Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious.
(Yuanxiao is a round food which is eaten on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year. The first Yuanxiao was made 800 years ago. Chinese people believe it will give them a good life.)
(Southern people in China prefer to eat Tangyuan on Lantern Festival.)
families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
As time goes by, the Lantern Festival has enjoyed more and more celebrating activities. Even though the Lantern Festival originated inChina, many Chinese Americans celebrate it here inAmericaas well, and we are proud of this.
(beautiful fireworks crackles across the sky)