The Lantern Festival has been part of Chinese New Year celebrations since the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 221 AD). Usually held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, it marks the end of New Year festivities.

　　It is said that the holiday evolved from an ancient Chinese belief that celestial spirits could be seen flying about in the light of the first full moon of the lunar calendar. To aid them in their search for the spirits they used torches. These torches gave way to lanterns of every shape, size and colour.

　　The Lantern Festival is also popularly referred to as the Chinese Valentine’s Day because in days of old it gave girls and boys a rare chance to go out in the evening and mingle. Today, lantern festivals are held each year in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan to mark the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. Competitions are held to select the best lanterns.

　　The lanterns

　　The lanterns come in all shapes and sizes. Some are created in the form of animals, insects, flowers, people or even machines or buildings. Others depict scenes from popular stories teaching filial piety and traditional values. A favourite subject is the zodiac animal of the year - which in 2014 will be the horse.

　　Lantern riddles (cai deng mi)

　　Part of the lantern festival tradition involves a game to guess riddles attached to the lanterns. In the old days the riddles were obscure literary allusions to the Chinese classics and so were mainly the preserve of the educated classes.

　　Special foods

　　Like most Chinese festivals, the Lantern Festival has its own special food, called "tang yuan". These are round, glutinous rice dumplings with sweet or spicy fillings. The dumplings are said to symbolise both the first full moon and family unity and completeness.

　　Entertainment

　　Stilt-walking, drumming and dragon and lion dancing are all traditional forms of festival entertainment. In Asia, it is not uncommon to see processions of hundred-foot long dragons, lit with flashing eyes and luminous bodies, accompanied by pounding drums, cymbals and brass instruments.

　　自漢朝(公元前206年—公元221年)起，元宵節(jié)就已成為了中國新年慶祝活動中的一部分了。一般農(nóng)歷的正月十五為元宵節(jié)，這一天也標志著新年慶祝活動的結(jié)束。

　　據(jù)說元宵節(jié)由古代中國的一個傳說演化而來，傳言每至農(nóng)歷第一個月圓之夜，便可看到天上飛動的神靈。為了更容易尋找神靈，他們都會用一些火把照明，而這些火把也逐漸由一些形狀、大小、顏色各異的燈籠所取代。

　　元宵節(jié)廣受喜愛的另一個原因在于：它也被看做中國的情人節(jié)，因為在過去，這一天少男少女們可以利用這個寶貴的機會晚上一起出去約會。而今，在中國、香港、新加坡和臺灣每年都會歡慶元宵節(jié)，以此作為中國新年慶祝的收尾。同時這些地方每年也會舉辦一些比賽來評選最佳彩燈。

　　燈籠

　　燈籠的形狀各異，大小不同。一些燈籠會扎成動物、昆蟲、花朵、人甚至是機器或建筑物的形狀。還有一些則描繪了許多廣為流傳故事的情景，用來宣揚孝道以及傳統(tǒng)價值觀。最受大眾喜愛則為當年生肖動物的主題彩燈，2014年會是馬年。

　　猜燈謎

　　元宵節(jié)傳統(tǒng)習俗中還有一部分是關(guān)于猜燈謎的游戲。在過去，這些謎語大多出自于模糊的文學典故和中國古典之中，所以猜燈謎以前多為知識份子的“領(lǐng)地”。

　　特色小吃

　　與大多數(shù)中國節(jié)日一樣，元宵節(jié)同樣有自己的特色小吃，稱為“湯圓”(也叫“元宵”)。湯圓外形圓圓的，外皮由糯米制成，內(nèi)餡或甜或辣。人們都說湯圓有兩個象征之意，一為農(nóng)歷的第一個月圓，二為家庭團聚圓滿。

　　娛樂活動

　　踩高蹺，敲鼓和舞龍舞獅都是一些傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的娛樂活動。在亞洲，人們經(jīng)常能看到這樣的場景：數(shù)百英尺的長龍，閃閃發(fā)光的眼睛和亮晶晶的身軀，周圍還有敲鑼打鼓、吹奏樂器的隊伍。

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