Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog

Happy Spring Lantern Festival!

 It’s the fifteenth day of the new Chinese Year…which means that today is the Spring Lantern Festival, the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations! This colourful festival dates back 2000 years to the Han Dynasty, when Buddhism was first introduced to China, and the monks lit lanterns on the 15th day of Chinese New Year to honour Buddha. Today, in Chinese cities everywhere – including Hong Kong – there are spectacular lantern displays, with lanterns in every shape and colour! Apart from the gorgeous traditional red hanging lanterns, there are lanterns shaped as flowers, fish, dragons, rabbits (of course!), even famous Emperors and heroes and heroines of Chinese folklore. There are even lanterns shaped as buildings! Tonight there will be riddle-guessing (where riddles will be written on small pieces of paper and stuck to the lanterns) and fabulous fireworks displays, and everyone will eat delicious sticky rice balls stuffed with sweet bean paste! It’s a great way to say goodbye to Chinese New Year and hello to Spring! Some people even call the Spring Lantern Festival the “Chinese Valentines Day” – so watch out! Someone you like might give you a kiss!