5th Feb,2023

         An important traditional Chinese holiday, the Lantern Festival, is celebrated on the  15th day of the first lunar month, two weeks after the Lunar New Year. It marks the first full moon of the Chinese New Year and the end of the Lunar New Year Holiday (Spring Festival).

On the night of the Chinese Lantern Festival, the streets are filled with colorful lanterns, often with riddles written on them. People eat  rice balls, watch dragon and lion dances, and set off fireworks.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in China, marks the beginning of spring. The Chinese Lantern Festival marks the last day of these celebrations. After the Lantern Festival, the New Year’s taboo is no longer in effect, and all New Year’s decorations are removed. Some still have to wait until the end of the festival to return to work or study.

The lanterns symbolize that people let go of the past year and welcome the new one with good luck.

The origins of the festival date back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 25 AD) when Buddhism flourished in China. Initially, young people are escorted on the streets in the hope of finding true love. Matchmakers usually matched couples.

Eating  rice balls on this day is considered auspicious as it can bring family harmony, happiness and good luck in the new year. It is a rice ball usually filled with sweet red bean paste, sesame paste or peanut butter. It is believed that the round ball and the bowl in it symbolize the reunion of the family.

The Chinese Lantern Festival is one of the most romantic traditional festivals in China. In ancient times, unmarried women were not allowed to go outside. The Chinese Lantern Festival gives them the opportunity to roam freely, light lanterns, play games, and socialize with men. This is why some say that the Chinese Lantern Festival is the real Chinese “Valentine’s Day”.

After the Lantern Festival, workers return to work, students return to school, everything returns to normal