Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar, the first night to see a full moon which is a symbol of happiness. It is also called Shangyuan Festival. It falls on Feb. 11, Saturday this year. During the festival, various folk events, like beating drums, lion dance, watching lanterns and fireworks, are held to pray for good luck and prosperity.
(Don’t miss the lantern riddles and gifts at the end of this article.)
Customs and celebrations of Lantern Festival vary from different regions in Guangdong.
In Lantern Festival, Guangzhou is adorned with colorful lanterns and splendid fireworks everywhere. In Foshan, on that day, thousands of families usually go across the Bridge of Tong Ji by tradition.
In Meizhou, people perform Fire Dragon Dance, an annual folk event with a history of more than 300 years on the night of the festival. People in Jieyang need to worship their ancestors according to their customs.
In Maoming, Nian Li, the most ceremonious and distinctive festival, is being held in different area on a different date, people worshiping gods, watching cultural performances and holding banquets to entertain relatives and friends.
Tangyuan (Glutinous Rice Balls) is traditionally eaten in the Lantern Festival. It is a round shape dessert made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water and then cooked and served in boiling water. As the round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, Tangyuan symbolizes the family togetherness.
One of the Lantern Festival’s important activities is watching lanterns. Lanterns in China have a long history and they have become synonymous with Chinese culture. They are used as a means of artistic expression, in terms of functionality, design and decoration. Chinese streets in both cities and towns are decorated with red lanterns during festivals, especially Chinese Lunar New Year, Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
Guessing lantern riddles
“Guessing lantern riddles” is an essential part of the Lantern Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular in different sectors of society.
Newsgd.com also gathers a few lantern riddles for you guys to solve. Please leave your solutions to the riddles via Comment on our WeChat Account (ID: newsguangdong). If you get them all right, you will stand a great chance win a Lantern Festival gift: two lantern puzzles or paper cut artwork.
Gifts
Riddles
Please scan the QR Code or click Read More to see more riddles.
