Chinese Lantern Festival By: Dimitri Kalogeras

How did it start ? The Chinese used to people called origins. One day a origin spoke of a beautiful bird. One day, it was hunted and killed and that made the Jade Emperor from the heavens because this birds was his favorite of all birds and planned a storm of fire for the village in which the murderers of the bird lived in. His daughter therefore herd of her father’s plan and warned the villagers. Then the village turned into chaos because nobody knew what to do about it. A wise man though told them for three days to hang red lanterns, set bonfires and explode fire crackers. That way they would give the impression that the city was on fire. From that day on the Chinese celebrate these days as a anniversity. This is not the only origin Chinese believed. There are to many to talk about so this is the one you get.

What do they do today ? Today the people in China do basically the same things they hang lots of different red lanterns they explode firecrackers and light fires These are some of the Chinese lanterns

How do they celebrate? To celebrate they would usually watch a parade, go around town with there lanterns, and then home and eat tangyuang which is a kind of rice ball.

When do they celebrate the Lantern Festival? They celebrate the lantern festival once a year on the 15 lunar day. Those were also the dates the origins story had.

A competition The Chinese had a competition during the festival They had competitions for who would have the most beautiful lantern. Famies buy lanterns or make there own and then they can participate in the competition.

Why are the lanterns red ? The lanterns are usually red because in China, red is the color of good fortune. They are also colored multi colored to make them look more beautiful.

Are they allowed to eat anything else than the rice balls? Yes. They can eat whatever they like. It’s just that the rice balls are a very traditional food that they must not forget on there table when they eat.

Do they play any games during the Lantern Festival? Yes. There are a couple of games. I will tell you of one of them. One game out of the many is Lantern riddles. Normally a person would attach a riddle on his/hers lantern and ask people to solve it.

Fun Facts Children usually get there own lanterns and participate in the show case They do different competitions The Chinese Lantern Festival is also Chinese Valentines day They do a kind of dance called drum dance The Lantern Festival ends the Chinese New Year.