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festival of lanterns.i spent the festival of lanterns with my grandparents this year.
my family went to my grandparents home and had dinner with them.we had lots of sweetdumplins.after the dinner, my grandparents and i went out to play fireworks.
we had a very good time together.
according to the chinese tradition，at the very beginning of a new year， when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky， there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out.
during the lantern festival， people will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao （glutinous rice ball）。
in the sui dynasty in the sixth century， emperor yangdi invited envoys from other countries to china to see the colorful lighted lanterns and enjoy the gala performances.
by the beginning of the tang dynasty in the seventh century， the lantern displays would last three days. the emperor also lifted the curfew， allowing the people to enjoy the festive lanterns day and night.
the lantern festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in february or march in the gregorian calendar. as early as the western han dynasty (206 bc-ad 25), it had become a festival with great significance.
this days important activity is watching lanterns. throughout the han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220), buddhism flourished in china. one emperor heard that buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of buddhas body, and light lanterns to worship buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to buddha on this day. later, the buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the central plains to the whole of china.
till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.
guessing lantern riddles is an essential part of the festival. lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. if visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. if they are right, they will get a little gift. the activity emerged during peoples enjoyment of lanterns in the song dynasty (960-1279). as riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
people will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the yuanxiao festival. yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. it is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling.
tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. it tastes sweet and delicious. whats more, tangyuan in chinese has a similar pronunciation with tuanyuan, meaning reunion. so people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.
in the daytime of the festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. on the night, besides magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. most families spare some fireworks from the spring festival and let them off in the lantern festival. some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. on the night when the first full moon enters the new year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.