LANTERN shows, lion and dragon dances and parades were held across the city yesterday as communities celebrated the annual Lantern Festival, marking the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.

On Zhongying Street in Yantian District, local residents celebrated the day with their unique century-old fish lantern dance dating back to the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

During the performance, fishing scenes were performed by villagers who played fishermen, shrimps, crabs and other sea creatures, accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments. The dance was placed on the provincial cultural heritage list last year.

In Shawei community in Futian, people marked the festival with Hakka basin dishes and traditional sacrificial ceremonies.

Last night, tens of thousands of people went to Lotus Hill Park, Haibin Park, Dameisha beach and Fairy Lake Botanical Garden to enjoy the first full moon of the lunar new year, according to the lunar calendar.

Theme parks such as Window of the World also offered lantern shows and riddles for tourists.

Rice dumplings with sweet or savory fillings, the traditional Lantern Festival dish, were best sellers in local supermarkets.

Hundreds of Shenzheners who donated blood yesterday at Huaqiangbei, Dongmen and Nanshan received roses from the blood center, as the Lantern Festival is also known as Chinese Valentine's Day. In ancient China, girls were only allowed to go out on the day of Lantern Festival, and guessing lantern riddles was their only chance to meet men.

While a full moon was expected for the festival, a rare eclipse of the full moon occurred yesterday morning at 5:30 a.m.

"Although an eclipse of the moon itself is common and can be seen twice to three times a year around the world, those coinciding with the Lantern Festival are rare," said a spokeswoman surnamed Liu from the local meteorolgocial observatory.

The last Lantern Festival full moon eclipse happened was Feb. 10, 1990, and the next is expected March 3, 2026.

However, most local astronomers will have to wait another 19 years following cloudy skies yesterday morning.

People perform a traditional dragon dance to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Taoyuanju housing estate in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, yesterday. The Lantern Festival, the last day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, fell on yesterday.

Editor: Yan