Year of the Snake Lantern Festival Lantern Display in Taipei. Head over and see the featured displays for the year.

Chinese Lantern Festival – Yuán xiāo jié – 元宵節 is always landing on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year celebration.  This day completes the 15-day Lunar New Year celebration in Chinese culture.

It is the time to carry lanterns and enjoy the last day of the Lunar New Year festivities.  The Lantern Festival marks the end of the fifteen days of the Lunar New Year celebration in Chinese culture.  You might also want to read about the Chinese Lantern Festival Riddle Game and try it out with the printable.

What do people do on the day of the Lantern Festival?  Most Chinese people do three signature activities annually.

Visit the Lantern Display

In recent years, visiting the Lantern Festival’s lantern exhibition has become a major event not only for the Chinese but tourists.  Lantern displays in different cities kick off the beginning of the Chinese New Year celebration and people have plenty of time to enjoy.  Check out some beautiful lantern displays from the Lantern Festival Lantern Shows in Taiwan.

Eat Yuan Xiao also known as Tang Yuan

The second tradition is that families will eat sweet or salty sticky rice balls known as “tang yuan” 湯圓 or “yuan xiao” 元宵 on this day.  There are also plain mini rice balls with no fillings inside, like the ones I made with my children in the pictures below.  We always enjoy the sweet black sesame-filled rice balls.    I use sweet rice flour with water to make the mini rice balls.  It is a simple cooking activity combined with language play with children.  HapaMama has a recipe for you to try The Red Bean Soup with Rice Dumplings.  The Woks of Life has a traditional tang yuan with a black sesame filling recipe.  It will be a lot of fun to make them and have “tang yuan” 湯圓 with your family.  The symbolic meaning for eating “tang yuan” 湯圓 or “yuan xiao” 元宵 is family togetherness.

As the night arrives children carry paper lanterns with battery-operated lights to join the annual lantern festival celebrations, typically held at parks and monuments throughout the island of Taiwan.  The design of the lanterns changes each year according to the rotation of the twelve Chinese animal birth signs.  Here are pictures of the theme lantern for the Year of the Chicken/Rooster.

 

Image courtesy of Bureau of Transportation, Taiwan

In the Year of the DOG.  The year lucky dog lanterns were given away for free to the residents and visitors.  The annual lantern festival also attracts international exhibitors to showcase their lantern designs.  This festivity makes it a wonderful field trip for families.

Image courtesy of Central News Agency, Taiwan

If you like to see some fascinating lanterns you should head to the Taiwan Lantern Festival for an online tour.  The video below will take you to experience the festival in Taipei.

 

There are wonderful lantern festival celebration events in China.  The biggest lantern festival is the Qinhuai International Lantern Festival.  Check out this video tour.

Lantern Riddle Game

There is one more tradition of the Lantern Festival which is the Lantern Riddle Game – Yuán xiāo cāi dēng mí 元宵猜燈謎. It is a game for both adults and children. The traditional Chinese Lantern Festival riddles can be quite challenging. Some of them are based on history and some of them are based on Chinese characters. The riddles are attached to the lanterns and the person who can solve a riddle can win a prize.

What’s More?  Fly a Lantern

I  flew a Sky Lantern with family and friends before.  It was a wonderful experience.  I would like to show you a short video of the well-known Ping Xi Sky Lantern Festival.  The sky lantern is called  Tiān dēng 天燈 in Chinese.  It is also known as Kǒng míng dēng 孔明燈.  You can make your sky lantern or buy one.  You write your wishes on the paper sky lantern and then send it into the sky.  It is quite a magnificent scene.  Look at the lanterns flying into the sky for the best wishes!

Culture Note: Sky lanterns are also used in Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries.

Video: Ping Xi Sky Lantern Festival

Have a Healthy, Happy, and Wonderful Lunar New Year!

健康 快樂 萬事順心

 jiàn kāng   Wàn shì shùn xīn

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Exploring More Resources in the Chinese New Year Series

Teaching Resource: 12 Chinese Animal Signs Activity & Culture Learning Unit

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Teaching Resource: 12 Chinese Animal Signs Posters Learning Unit

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 Make a Chinese New Year Lucky Word Sign Fú Craft

 Chinese New Year Lantern Festival Riddle Game Printable

  Chinese New Year Classic Greeting Coloring Pages

Chinese New Year Let’s Make Dumplings A Must-Have Recipe

Winter Solstice Dōng Zhì Festival

Chinese New Year Laba Festival

 

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on   /   Chinese Teaching Resrouces, Teaching Chinese to Children   /   6 Comments