Today Is The Lantern Festival!

For generations in China, people have learned how to make lanterns. But not just any lanterns. These lanterns were for the Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival, falling on the 15th day of the first lunar month, or today this year, marks the Spring Festival’s end. As its name suggests, this festival is about hanging up handmade lanterns, usually made from ordinary paper. In lantern making, there’s this piece of paper with carvings on it. That is the essential thing needed to make the colorful patterns on lanterns, acting as a mold. You color in the carvings, stick the lantern together, and there you go.

It might sound easy, but it actually takes hours, or sometimes days, to make one. The result is a beautiful lantern that’s ready for hanging up. Putting a battery-powered light inside, it glows with brilliant light. The Chinese also eat Yuanxiao, round balls filled with sweet stuffing. These you can all make at home. Why not try making them yourself?