The festival and the long holidays are almost marching towards another climax, which is the Lantern Festival!
Every holiday in China has its own set of traditions and customs. We have a lot of traditions involved in this lantern festival.
It is said that the traditional Chinese lantern festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month according to the Lunar calendar. The lantern festival is treated as the festival of lights. As the name says, this festival is all about appreciating and lighting the lanterns, flying them high or floating them and celebrating the full moon day. They set up fireworks and have many cultural activities like lion dances, dragon dances and solving the riddles written on lanterns.
This lantern festival was celebrated even before 2000 years for appreciating this first full moon day of the Lunar New Year. At the time of this festival, you could see a wide variety of lanterns in different shapes. There are lanterns, which depicts the zodiac animal of the Lunar New Year. You could see them hanging at all the houses as well as public places such as shopping malls, parks, and streets. Kids will celebrate by holding small lanterns while walking in the streets.
Do you know the reason, why this lantern festival is celebrated?
As per the Chinese tradition, lighting lanterns is a way to pray for an illuminated future and best fortune for their families and friends. There is also a custom, where ladies who are longing to conceive would walk under a hanging lantern praying for a child.
Puzzling Riddles
The colorful lanterns would have riddles pasted on them. People crowded around to solve the riddles. If someone cracked the riddle, they would go to the lantern owner for finding the right answer. If the answers were right, there would be small perks or gifts given.
This riddle guessing will become an interesting game and the Chinese youth will catch the attraction of their crush via this game. Lantern riddles are called as “lantern tiger” or “literary tiger”, which means they are as difficult and tough as tigers.
Here is are a couple of sample riddles for you to Guess and comment below
*Check the answers at the end of this article
1. “This belongs to you but others use it more than you do. What is it?”
2. “This works hard all its life, counting numbers day and night, but never gets past 12. What is it?”
Eating Rice Balls (Tangyuan)
Eating Tangyuan or rice balls is an important custom in the lantern festival. These rice dumplings are made of glutinous rice flour with sweet or sugar filling. The filling can be made out of sesame seeds, rose petals and bean paste. This round shaped ball symbolizes good fortune and wellness; hence eating rice dumplings in lantern festival is believed to enhance wealth and brings fortune to their families.
If you travel to China during this lantern festival, you will see many lantern fairs being held in public places. This would allow tourists to explore and experience Chinese lantern festivals.
Visit China this spring and experience spectacular lantern festivals and enjoy the best luxury shopping trends!
Happy Lanterns festival!
Riddle Answers:
- Your Name
- Clock