The Lantern Festival, marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations, falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar (February 23 this year). As early as the Western Han Dynasty, it had become a festival with great significance.
“Guessing lantern riddles” is an essential part of the Festival. Riddles are written on a piece of paper and posted on the lanterns. If visitors crack the riddles, they will get a small gift. As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
Eating the rice dumplings (called “yuanxiao” or “tangyuan”) is another tradition on the day. That is why the festival is also known as the “Yuanxiao Festival.” The small dumpling balls are made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling - boiled, fried or steamed.
For a colorful night, in addition to magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival for the “last craze”.
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This entry was posted
on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 4:43 am and is filed under journals.
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