How to celebrate the Lantern Festival!

In 2020, the Lantern Festival (Yuánxiāo jié 元宵节) falls on February 8th, the fifteenth and final day of Spring Festival. Although it’s not a public holiday, it is still widely celebrated, especially in southern China and amongst the diaspora.

What’s this holiday all about and how can you celebrate it? Read on to find out!

The origins of the lantern festival are unclear.  One legend is that in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Buddhism had just recently arrived in China. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the monks in Buddhist temples lit many lanterns as they observed Uposatha, a day for meditation and following the Buddha’s teachings more closely than otherwise. Emperor Ming, in an effort to popularise Buddhism, ordered that all households, including the imperial palace, should light lanterns. Another story is that, after a period of great political upheaval, Emperor Wen, one of China’s most benevolent emperors, designated the 15th day of the first lunar month as a day to celebrate peace.

Combined with other tales and traditions, these gradually developed into a folk custom and became incorporated into the Spring Festival celebrations.

On the lantern festival, people traditionally lit lanterns, went to public lantern displays, solved riddles and ate tangyuan. There were also performances from acrobats, dragon and lion dancers and musicians. The festival was quite noisy and wild, as suggested by an ancient name for it: 闹元宵(nào yuán xiāo) – wild/exciting lantern festival!

Solving riddles livened up lantern displays with intellectual challenges. Chinese riddles are difficult to translate as they usually depend on puns, historical figures, characters, idioms or places to make sense. But here’s a simple example: These tall, thin brothers go everywhere and do everything together, and always avoid soup. Who are they? (Answer below.)

On this evening, women – who traditionally had to stay at home – were allowed to take part in the festivities with the men. According to legend, this lead to romantic encounters on the evening, so it is sometimes called China’s ‘true Valentine’s Day’ (as opposed to the Qixi Festival on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month).

Tangyuan (Tāngyuán 汤圆) are round dumplings made of glutinous rice flour with sweet fillings, traditionally sesame paste. The name sounds similar to the word for ‘reunion’ (团圆—tuán yuan).  Their round shape represents the full moon (since the 15th day falls on the first full moon of the new year); also unity and the coming together of the family at this time of year, as well as hope for togetherness in the new year. 

In some parts of China they are known as yuanxiao, hence the Chinese name of the festival (Yuánxiāo jié 元宵节). Some people still make their own at home, filled with red bean or sesame paste, but they are now widely available in supermarkets with all manner of fillings including kiwi, orange and chocolate!

If you would like to book a private Lantern Festival workshop for your friends or colleagues, feel free to contact us and let us know how we can help! We provide workshops, presentations, team building activities and more for private groups, schools, embassies and companies. We look forward to seeing you soon!

PS. The answer to the riddle is… chopsticks!


How will you be celebrating the Lantern Festival? Let us know in the comments on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about anything listed here, please contact us or use the form below to let us know your specific requirements. We look forward to hearing from you!

Photo Credits
– Cultural Keys


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