Source: CCTV.com

04-17-2009 16:58

Fifteenth day of the first lunar month

The Lantern festival is also known as the "little-New Year." Aside from the usual worship of the gods, the occasion involves guessing lantern riddles, eating rice-flour dumplings, and releasing lanterns into the sky in Pingsi Township. The Yanshuei Beehive Rocket Festival in Tainan County is another major event during the Lantern Festival.

Lantern Festivities

Colorful and lanterns of all sizes and shapes have always been main attractions of the Lantern Festival ,which is celebrated with a grand national festival and major festival in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The Taipei Lantern Festival is held for several days at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, reaching its peak on the day of the Lantern Festival itself. There is a gigantic lantern depicting this year's Chinese zodiac animal, which is the centerpiece of the festival. There are also many traditional lanterns, electromechanical lantern displays, and large themed lantern floats designed by different companies.