2022 China Lantern Festival

When is Lantern Festival?

The Lantern Festival ( pinyin: Yuánxiāo jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations.

How do we celebrate the Lantern Festival?

1. Watch Lantern

Lighting and appreciating lanterns is the main activity of Yuan Xiao Jie. Lanterns are seen everywhere including in houses, shopping malls, parks, and streets. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune.

2. Guessing Lantern Riddles

Guessing (solving) lantern riddles is one of the most important and popular activities of the Lantern Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on paper notes and paste them on the colorful lanterns. People crowd round to guess the riddles.

If someone thinks they have the right answer, they can pull the riddle off and go to the lantern owner to check their answer. If the answer is right, there is usually a small gift as a prize.

3. Enjoy Dumpling

Eating tangyuan is an important custom of the Lantern Festival. Tangyuan (tāngyuán ), also called yuanxiao in the north, are balls of glutinous rice boiled in a sweet soup.

As tangyuan is pronounced similarly to tuanyuan, which means 'reunion' and 'completeness', Chinese people believe that the round shape of the balls and bowls symbolize wholeness and togetherness.