My favourite festival is the Lantern Festival. This festival is very important to the Chinese people. It is on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year. We often eat yuanxiao or tangyuan, go out to enjoy the moon and watch lanterns that day. I like watching lanterns and guessing lantern riddles. In the evening, people light up the lanterns. We can see different shapes of colourful lanterns. Some people write riddles on the lanterns. If we know the answer, we can take the lantern to its owner. If the answer is correct, there is a gift for the winner. I love this festival because it is very interesting.
It is tradition that people hang lanterns everywhere, in their house or in the streets. The lanterns depict various characters, like flying birds, leaping fishes, and shining fireworks, showing an atmosphere of joy. People will come out and appreciate the beautiful scene.
Eating yuanxiao is another Lantern Festival tradition. Yuanxiao is made of glutinous rice, either solid or stuffed. The stuffing includes bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, various kinds of fruit and so on. It can be boiled, fried or steamed and fried.
In the Lantern Festival, people from north part of China eat yuanxiao; while those from south part of China eat tangyuan.
元宵节这天，中国北方人吃元宵，南方人吃汤圆。
猜灯谜 Guessing lantern riddles
Riddles written on the lanterns can inspire wisdom and cater to the festival atmosphere, so many people like it very much. Guessing the answers to lantern riddles gradually became an indispensable part of the Lantern Festival.
灯谜可以激发人们的智慧，又烘托节日氛围，深受民众喜爱。猜灯谜渐渐成为元宵节不可缺少的一部分。
舞狮子 Lion dances
The lion dance is one of the oldest traditions to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In ancient times, people regarded the lion as a symbol of bravery and strength and believed the dance could drive away bad fortune to protect people and their livestock. The custom has continued to the modern day and lion dances are performed at important events on the Chinese calendar, such as the Lantern Festival, to bring good luck.
Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance it is most often seen in festival celebration. The dance is performed by a team of dancers who manipulate a long flexible figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon.
Chinese dragons are a symbol of China, and they are believed to bring good luck to people, therefore the longer the dragon in the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community.
